Proud to be 'Mericentric.
The hubby found a funny t-shirt while thrifting. Being a sucker for lame puns he snatched it up. Since it didn't fit him so well, he passed it off to me which I happily wear on a regular basis.
Funny huh?
So I wore it to work the other day. A loud, jovial man at one of my tables started speaking French to me. Embarrassed at my lack of culture, I had no witty French response. I didn't even know what he said to me. I explained to him that I don't know French.
That didn't bother him, but what I said next did.
"Even though I don't speak it, I have always thought about how nice it would be to have come from France."
His smile quickly dissipated.
"Why would you wish you were from France honey?"
I responded with,
"I guess I think it would be interesting."
He said.
"Be proud to be an American. It's a great country to be from!"
He didn't speak to me for the rest of the service unless it was to order from me. He barely even looked at me.
I guess I offended him. Or maybe the romantic dream that many bored, mid-western, girls have offended him. You know the one. Sitting alone on your bed amongst a pile of Elle magazines, rubbing Channel No. 5 samples all over yourself, dreaming of sitting at a table at an outdoor cafe, chain smoking in couture, while the Eiffel Tower behind you points strongly, yet delicately towards a setting sun.
Why can't I have my dream and still be proud of where I am from? What would make that man think that I am ashamed to be from America? Don't most of us have that far away place that we dream about for most of our lives? Can't we speak fondly of other countries, and show our respect to them without our pride for our own country questioned?
Has our pride for our country developed into some weird us versus them thing? Is it all or nothing here? Either you love everything American, or you're a traitor. I am officially calling this attitude "Americentric."
Truth be told. France isn't my dream home. England is. Someday.....................
**Update** The hubby informed me last night as I was falling asleep, that the t-shirt is NOT a pun. I'm wondering what it is. Hmmmm...
Funny huh?
So I wore it to work the other day. A loud, jovial man at one of my tables started speaking French to me. Embarrassed at my lack of culture, I had no witty French response. I didn't even know what he said to me. I explained to him that I don't know French.
That didn't bother him, but what I said next did.
"Even though I don't speak it, I have always thought about how nice it would be to have come from France."
His smile quickly dissipated.
"Why would you wish you were from France honey?"
I responded with,
"I guess I think it would be interesting."
He said.
"Be proud to be an American. It's a great country to be from!"
He didn't speak to me for the rest of the service unless it was to order from me. He barely even looked at me.
I guess I offended him. Or maybe the romantic dream that many bored, mid-western, girls have offended him. You know the one. Sitting alone on your bed amongst a pile of Elle magazines, rubbing Channel No. 5 samples all over yourself, dreaming of sitting at a table at an outdoor cafe, chain smoking in couture, while the Eiffel Tower behind you points strongly, yet delicately towards a setting sun.
Why can't I have my dream and still be proud of where I am from? What would make that man think that I am ashamed to be from America? Don't most of us have that far away place that we dream about for most of our lives? Can't we speak fondly of other countries, and show our respect to them without our pride for our own country questioned?
Has our pride for our country developed into some weird us versus them thing? Is it all or nothing here? Either you love everything American, or you're a traitor. I am officially calling this attitude "Americentric."
Truth be told. France isn't my dream home. England is. Someday.....................
**Update** The hubby informed me last night as I was falling asleep, that the t-shirt is NOT a pun. I'm wondering what it is. Hmmmm...
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4 comments:
I really hate how everyone these days ("these days"; what am I, 70?) has an "all or nothing" attitude. It's like the middle groud has disapeared!
I know exactly how you feel, though. I always dream about living in Europe, but that doesn't mean I don't love America. And it doesn't make me un-patriotic to say I think our country has some problems. The people who defend every little aspect of our country and government are kidding themselves. I think it's healthy to be able to criticize your own country. For that guy to get upset at what you said is moronic. Everyone thinks "somewhere else" is more exciting than where they are from. I'm sure there are some Parisians who think life in Mid-western America sounds just dandy.
And England is my dream spot, too. How could it NOT be awesome when it's responsible for Monty Python, Depeche Mode, Ricky Gervais, etc...?!? :-) My husband works for a company that has branches in England, and I was always so afraid of moving so far away. I've changed my mind over the last year or so, and now I'm really pushing for him to get transferred. He's excited I'm on board because that means he would move up the company ladder even faster. So hopefully soon, he will get a 2 year transfer! I think it would be adorable for the kids to have little British accents. :-)
It's a pun. You're right.
Hahaha thanks becky. :)
while i know there are people from all countries who love where they live, and come from, i also believe most of us have that "grass is greener" mentality. who doesn't dream of a far away place? i think if we all had that "my country is better than yours" attitude, this world would have a lot less fairy tales. you know "once upon a time in a land far, far away."
i imagine it would sound more like "once upon a time in my house." or something like that. lame joke.
and there is nothing unpatriotic about being critical about your country. pointing out it's faults, and asking for change is what makes many countries around the world great ones.
I dream of living in Italy. History should have shown us that the Founding Fathers created a democracy that requires opposing viewpoints to succeed. Maybe it is the squelching of those viewpoints that got us into trouble?
Off to play my Italian language cds or watch a French film-what a beautiful world out there!
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