“dignified silence seems more appropriate.”
Amen.
Maybe so, but that’s not the reason enunciated by the flight attendant. If the company said silence was more dignified, the lady likely would have understood. I certainly would honor such a policy. But it didn’t; it said, through the flight attendant, that the anthem would offend people from other countries.
So in essence, it wouldn’t matter whether a deceased soldier — may he rest in peace with the gratitude of the entire country — was being brought back, or whether Mitt Romney’s dog was in a cage on top of the plane. The company would still find the anthem offensive.