Is your avatar a picture of Norman Bates? Funny how without the eyes it looks so much less crazy.

Anyway, the way I remember it, nobody at school was forced to recite the pledge of allegiance. We were expected to be quiet and stand up, but nobody forced us to say the words. Most kids did it anyway.

I liked the pledge of allegiance. It was a nice ritual. I'm not a fan of what the ritual stands for, but it's a somewhat less depressing to begin a day that inevitably will be depressing and stupid because it's a school day.