During the late 80's I was posted to Ottawa. On a July 1, I decided to take the bus downtown to partake of the celebration. The bus that stopped in front of my apartment building was very crowded and there was only enough room to stand at the front next to the driver, who I recognized as the lady who most often was the driver when I took the bus to work every morning. We exchanged greetings and she offered me a small Canadian flag on a stick. She had been passing them out to all her passengers and most on the bus had them. I declined. My refusal to "wave a flag" seemed to bother a couple of young men standing next to me. One got particularly vociferous and started ranting about "who do you think you are", "What are you, some kind of f****** foreigner" "If our flag isn't good enough for you, you should go back to your own country". (I should add that I am a Newfoundlander with a complexion that when subjected to endless days of NDHQ office fluorescent lighting can be charitably described as fish-belly white). Anyway, I held my tongue and tried to ignore the two young a******* gentlemen. The driver tried to tell them to shut up or they would be put off. However, one of them continued with the rant that "brave men had fought and died for that flag so you can come to our country and live in freedom". The pièce de résistance came when he stated proudly, "we wear that flag on our uniforms so that you have the right to **** on it". Now I don't mind a******* generally as long as they don't interfere with my life. There are too many of them around, so I have found they are best left ignored. That last comment, however, demanded response so I asked them if they were in the military to which one answered, "yeah, we're soldiers". I asked to see their ID cards to prove it and when they refused (by saying **** off, we don't have to show ID to a civvy), I produced mine and made it an order. Unfortunately (for the service), both were reserve members. Fortunately, they didn't stay members long.