Happy 250th Birthday, USA!

I spent a majority of my childhood driving across and around America, going coast to coast, up and down. This early exposure to the 50 states opened a Pandora’s box of curiosity surrounding the endless ways to spend your days as an American. 

As I grew older and began traveling outside of the country, I began to learn of the stereotypes surrounding Americans.

They said we were too loud, too boisterous, we took up all the air in the room and thought little of what happened outside of our own nation. It seemed to me we were perceived as bull-headed, sometimes childish, and more than a little power hungry. I was embarrassed by this reputation and did everything I could to convince others I was “not like other Americans.” I became disinterested in American culture, and my childhood fascination with it dulled. 

It would be my husband, an immigrant to this country, who would reignite my interest in my identity and culture as an American. 

The two of us have now taken our own fair share of cross-country roadtrips, and as we traveled state to state I began to see America through his eyes. He lauded the American ability to grab the bull by the horns, our propensity to go out of our way to help someone, and the easy friendliness we share with strangers. He saw our stubbornness as an asset, our boisterous voices as confidence, and our desire for more as a stern refusal against complacency. 

On America’s birthday, I encourage all of us to reflect on our own American culture, and to purposefully engage with others. Rockland is a beautiful micro-example of the macro-diversity that blankets this country, which makes it one of the reasons why I love this county and why I love this country. 

Be boisterous, be loud, be stubborn. But be kind, share a laugh, march in the India Day Parade, sit in on an Irish seisiún, then pick up some Haitian food on the way home and have limoncello with your Italian neighbor. Learn something, change your mind, and be a good American.