An Interesting Sight

Every morning, I drive past the fire house. Every morning (unless it's raining) they have the flag up. If you can see the sun, you can see the flag. Except this morning. Today, they didn't put the flag up until I was driving home from dropping L off at school.
I turned off of Holly Hills, onto Michigan, and spotted one of our firefighters just beginning to raise the flag.
A motorist had been driving toward me. When he saw the flag being raised, he stopped dead. He sat in the middle of the street, with a slight smile on his face, watching the flag go up the pole. I noticed this as I drove past the fire house. At about the point where I was level with the other driver, it clicked. He was showing respect. And I, like a damn fool, was not. A line of cars came down Michigan, and every single one of them drove around the man watching the flag.
The flag-respecting driver didn't make anyone wrong for passing without stopping. He was doing what he wanted to do, and nobody else mattered. I thought his simple gesture was really cool.

I told the Hubby-Man about it when I got home, and he took all the magic out of it.
He said, "He must be former military." He explained that in the military, whenever the flag is raised or lowered, everyone stops.
Mystery solved, but I still think it was neat.