Happy 4th of July + What is American Culture?
Source: sonofthesouth.net via Samuel on Pinterest
Today we celebrate America’s Independence Day and I want to begin by wishing you the best day ever..after you read this of course!
Considering the above photo, can you imagine how those victorious soldiers must’ve felt when replacing that British flag with a new American one?
It makes me proud…very proud to call myself an American.
Years back, I was visiting with a friend of a friends in San Antonio who had recently married. We met his new beautiful bride from Guadalajara Mexico and found ourselves sitting in front of The Alamo eating snowcones when this gal started bashing America saying this country had no culture.
I nearly choked on my snow cone upon hearing her say that
and compare the U.S. to her beloved Mexico. She was obviously not transitioning well into her new surroundings.
Later that night at dinner, her husband asked me how I’d enjoyed my tour of San Antonio with them and I said, “It was great! But your wife needs some work…” GASP -a surprised look on everyone’s face. I then let him know that as an American it was hard to hear his wife take stabs at the land I call my own. She put her head down, realizing what she had done. He apologized on her behalf and mentioned how she was struggling with the change and how I wasn’t the first American for her to offend. I didn’t take it to heart
Although that was a tongue biting experience for me, I didn’t hold her words against her. The good that came out of it was she got me to really think about American culture and considering the diversity of our country, it can be hard to pinpoint what sets us apart. But if you really think about…what makes us America is the fact that
We don’t f*ck around when it comes to achieving dreams, making a name for ourselves, and creating the life we want.
We don’t care how rich or educated you were or how big your house was or how you had servants growing up where you did because once you land in America, you start from scratch and are instantly on level playing field with the rest of us.
The American mind says “Don’t brag about what you once had…show me what you can do now.”
To me, being American is…
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:: raunchy, action-packed Hollywood films + popcorn and Coca Cola in a dark movie theater. Maybe some serious smooching too.
:: Big Gulp, Slurpies, and brain freezes
:: Banana Splits, peanut buster parfaits, cherry-topped sundaes and blue and red snow cones
:: Bazooka Joe gum and Blow pops that turn your entire mouth blue
:: Classic Mustangs, Corvettes and Camaros
:: Movie Franchises: Star Wars, Transformers, Die Hard, Fast and the Furious franchise, Rocky
:: The Original Action Heros: Arnold and Sylvester
:: Buying on credit and gambling with debt up the wazoo
:: Ford, Cadillac, Chevy, GM…the reemergence of DETROIT baby.
:: Tex-mex QUESO (because it you order “queso” in Mexico, they’ll bring you a bowl of grated cheese)
:: Brisket, ribs, and barbeque sauce with potato salad, cole slaw, and pickles
:: Gwok (how Americans order a side of guacamole)
:: Margaritas…because life can be a b*tch sometimes.
:: Friends who can speak other languages but always speak English together.
:: Jazz, Hip Hop, Rock N’ Roll…right here from the beginning.
:: Google, Yahoo, Apple, Microsoft…f*cking all of Silicon Valley and the tech community in Austin, Texas.
:: Peach cobbler, soul food, collard greens, watermelon, koolaid, and paper bag-fried chicken…because I love it and stereotypes are overrated.
:: Diners and drive-ins…thanks Guy Fieri
:: Food Network, MTV, HGTV, American Idol, America’s Got Talent, and every other friggin’ show the rest of the world wants to copy
:: Cheering random soldiers, fire fighters and police after a job well done
:: A woman with some serious ovaries who can stand up and talk for 12 hours straight and give government a piece of her mind
:: The many creative usages of the English curse words Sh*t, F*ck and Motherf*cker
:: Our chameleon nature, language, landscape, economics, our desire for constant change and improvement…
And oh so much more.
What is American culture to you? Why are you proud to be Red, White and Blue?
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