Just yesterday I was thinking about our national anthem and how truly, uniquely great it is. No mention of God; though it's a battle scene, the focus is not bathing in the blood of our enemies, but instead the persistence of our ideals even under attack. And it categorizes us not as victors or warriors or obedient followers, but as "the free and the brave." I'm gonna write a post about this. Thanks for the inspo!
This is such a good corrective! Politically engaged Americans on both sides actually believe that they have nothing in common with those on the other side, to whom they attribute a caricatured, alien personality. I've often thought that if a religious Republican and a secular Democrat were thrown together in just about any foreign country for a couple of weeks, they would bond over everything they had in common.
One of our favorite games in the airport is to play spot the American, or to find a place where you can only see people's shoes before you can see the rest of them and then try to predict what they will look like and where they are from.
I enjoyed this column. I leave tomorrow to spend a week in Edinburgh with Sophia (my daughter, who just finished geology camp in Scotland). She and I joked that we should, as Americans, wear fanny packs and baseball caps, and everywhere we go loudly ask, "Where's the Harry Potter stuff?" I like the idea that maybe our friendliness will be appreciated. It will be interesting to be overseas for the 4th of July. I don't think I will feel nostalgic for fireworks and a picnic, but who knows? Do they have potato salad and watermelon in Scotland? I guess I will find out!
Thanks, Mari. I needed this as it feels that we are losing our country. Just as American food is unfairly maligned, I think the same is true of American beer. There are a few that I've poured down the drain - the rest of a six-pack, but most are good to excellent.
Just yesterday I was thinking about our national anthem and how truly, uniquely great it is. No mention of God; though it's a battle scene, the focus is not bathing in the blood of our enemies, but instead the persistence of our ideals even under attack. And it categorizes us not as victors or warriors or obedient followers, but as "the free and the brave." I'm gonna write a post about this. Thanks for the inspo!
This is such a good corrective! Politically engaged Americans on both sides actually believe that they have nothing in common with those on the other side, to whom they attribute a caricatured, alien personality. I've often thought that if a religious Republican and a secular Democrat were thrown together in just about any foreign country for a couple of weeks, they would bond over everything they had in common.
One of our favorite games in the airport is to play spot the American, or to find a place where you can only see people's shoes before you can see the rest of them and then try to predict what they will look like and where they are from.
I enjoyed this column. I leave tomorrow to spend a week in Edinburgh with Sophia (my daughter, who just finished geology camp in Scotland). She and I joked that we should, as Americans, wear fanny packs and baseball caps, and everywhere we go loudly ask, "Where's the Harry Potter stuff?" I like the idea that maybe our friendliness will be appreciated. It will be interesting to be overseas for the 4th of July. I don't think I will feel nostalgic for fireworks and a picnic, but who knows? Do they have potato salad and watermelon in Scotland? I guess I will find out!
Thanks, Mari. I needed this as it feels that we are losing our country. Just as American food is unfairly maligned, I think the same is true of American beer. There are a few that I've poured down the drain - the rest of a six-pack, but most are good to excellent.
Here's a less fortunate way to spot an American- we don't speak as good Czech as Czechs do English 😅