The Patriotic Finger

OK, so the title of my blog may be slightly inappropriate. I couldn't resist though, since I was surprised no one has used it yet. That was a good enough reason for me. Plus, it really is more patriotic than inappropriate anyway.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story behind this saying, here is a brief summary of the story.

Some decades ago (in 1968), back when bands of gypsies (aka "hippies" - ancestors of the modern day "hipsters" as can be seen by both groups' love of unique mustaches) roamed our land there was a ship by the name of the USS Pueblo. The Pueblo and her crew were just floating around, minding their own business, and collecting intelligence on the Soviets and North Koreans. Everything was business as normal. However, the good times were about to end. Unbeknownst to the crew of the Pueblo, North Korea attempted to assassinate the president of South Korea. The North Koreans were pretty annoyed with their failed attempt and must have been desperate for some sort of combat victory. So the next day, when some Korean ships spotted the Pueblo (who's crew was unaware of the events that had occurred the previous day) they decided to be jerks and demanded to board the ship. The captain of the Pueblo, confident in his crew's abilities, used Morse code to send back the same iconic three letters everyone still recognizes today - "LOL." Anyway, a high speed chase ensued for a few hours as the Pueblo cleverly out maneuvered the Korean ship. Eventually, the Koreans got fed up with this game and opened fire on the Pueblo (who's own machine guns were unmanned). The Pueblo and her crew were then captured.

What does this have to do with "flipping the bird" you ask? (Note to self: a video of a bird literally doing flips would be awesome. Check YouTube later)

The North Koreans, known for their openness and honesty, took a surprising turn and forced the captured crew to make statements about how awesome North Korea is and to participate in propaganda films and videos. If the crew refused, they were tortured and beaten. They didn't want anyone in the US to think they actually thought what they were saying, so they decided to flip off their captors whenever they were on film. This way, people back in America were aware of what the crew was actually doing while the Koreans were not (apparently, the Koreans were never conquered by Rome, so this mocking gesture never made it into their culture). So while the captain or crew was being forced to make a speech about how much better North Korea was than American, they gave the finger to their captors the whole time. It's like sarcasm using your hands.

"Learning about North Korea's mighty army is super interesting!"

They were a bit worried the Koreans would catch on, so they decided if anyone was asked what they were doing to say that it was "the Hawaiian good luck sign", a variation of the "Hawaiian hang loose sign." The North Koreans, convinced that the crew must truly have learned to love their new home, did not catch on for quite a while. Eventually they found out. While most people would laugh and say "you got me good!" their captors did not have much of a sense of humor, and the crew was brutally punished. Fortunately, they were released a couple of weeks later.