system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: I don't feel like I need to stand and take my hat off whenever the national anthem is being played before events or any other time.

First off, I respect my country (the US)

When I was in high school I got to a certain point where I wondered why I was even standing for the pledge of allegiance anymore. So one day I stopped and I would just read or work on something for class while everyone else stood and said the pledge. An assistant principal walked by one day and called me into the hallway and screamed at me and told me that I didn't respect my country.

When I go to sporting events or when I watch big ones on TV they always sing the national anthem and I either don't stand and endure the glares of people around me or a change the channel for a minute and listen to whoever I'm with kinda give me shit about it.

I just don't feel like I need to sing along with these things to respect my country and the people who have helped make it what it is. And I think its bullshit and contradictory to what our country is supposed to be about for people to put me down for NOT participating in these things, and I hate feeling like all of these events are forcing you to respect your country by participating in these things.
gpt
Nobody is forcing you to do it, but just as it's your right to have the opinion that you shouldn't do it, it's their right to have the opinion that you should, and there is no right to be free of the social consequences of having an unpopular view.