Plainfield woman flies U.S. flag upside down to send distress call to leaders
Move upsets some neighbors
By Joel Hood | Tribune reporter
December 5, 2008



Debra Brzostowski of Plainfield, Ill., has turned the American flag flying on the front of her house upside down to protest the U.S. government's bailout of failing banks. (Tribune photo by Scott Strazzante / December 4, 200

Like many Americans, Debra Brzostowski says she's disgusted that the government has so generously given to rich Wall Street bankers when struggling homeowners have gotten so little in these tough economic times.

To channel that frustration, the small-business owner has written her local representatives in Congress. She's also written the vice president, the president and the president-elect. When she got no response, Brzostowski did the only other thing in her power to do: She turned the American flag flying outside her home upside down.

"This is a distress call to the government," said Brzostowski, 38. "I'm a proud American and I've always supported my government, but there are too many people like me hurting right now."

That simple, and silent, protest has already ruffled a few feathers in the 2500 block of Paradise Circle in unincorporated Plainfield, where the Brzostowski family lives. Some neighbors accuse her of being unpatriotic and have told her to fly the flag correctly or take it down.

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The flag flap Video "It's extremely disrespectful," said Jennifer Hillary, who lives down the street from Brzostowski. "We're all feeling the constraints of the economy. I feel like part of the reason we're in this situation is because we're not united as a country. It drives me nuts what she's doing."

But neither the pressure from neighbors nor the flood of menacing phone calls or insulting e-mails has broken Brzostowski's resolve. On a MySpace page she created

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