What is an American?

Dear friend,
I want to share my thoughts with you about, “What is an American?” I know you feel fully educated about us and our culture because of the endless hours of American TV you have watched but indulge me if you will. I can assure you not everyone lives with their other five friends in the same apartment building in New York. Although we may have a close knit group we hang out with, your best friends probably won’t date your brother. Your other close guy friend probably won’t be super hot and really dumb. If one of your girl friends is tall, leggy and blond, I pray she won’t be hopelessly clueless and sing songs about “smelly cats.” We do have great healthcare here but please don’t be disillusioned to the fact that your E.R. doctor will look like Dr. Mark Greene, that our hospitals are run like well oiled machines and every day in the E.R. is orchestrated like the timeless symphony. If you do decide to move here you may experience culture shock. There are many beautiful people in America; however, they don’t all look like the ones living in the zip code 90210. We all don’t get to lead the privileged lives they do either. I wish my high school boy friend looked like Dylan McKay. Anyway, I digress. I am sure the main reason you want to move here is to live the American dream. I hope Jerry Seinfeld and his crazy friends didn’t lead you to believe that life is pointless. Their “show about nothing” might dash all hope of a meaningful life here but I assure you my friend that the American dream is alive and well.

We have grown from roots planted deep in the soil of freedom and liberty. Ours is a government by the people and for the people. We have democracy that enables us the pursuit of happiness and this truly is the land of the free and the home of the brave. Americans are patriotic. Many would say they bleed red, white and blue. Here you can be a citizen and find a sense of belonging. In America “we know no strangers and this is every person’s country" (Heath, 74). In the beginning, our country was born from European ideals but individuals prided themselves on transforming those and making them original and unique. We Americans, put action to belief and change is possible. We are free to choose and the opportunities to flourish abound. There are many aspects of this great country that make it a desirable place to live. The gapping chasm that separates the rich and the poor does not exist. The noble and entitled do not dictate to the “common”. The farmer and the business man work for the benefit of the whole. Our culture is rich and full of music, theatre, cuisine, symphony, ballet and even baseball can be added to our unique heritage. These all are exceptional examples of traditional American ideals from long ago.

Since you are my dear friend, I have no choice but to be honest with you. Please don’t mistake my honesty for pessimism. To be fair to you I want to give you a very clear picture of America as I see it today. With all my heart I believe this is the greatest most powerful nation on earth. I love my country and most times I am proud to be an American. Most Americans continue to try to live “the dream”. Fathers get up in the morning and head off to work so they can provide for their families. Mothers are home to bandage skinned knees and bake chocolate chip cookies. Families of all shapes and sizes fight together, work together and play together. At the end of the day they bow their heads to thank God for the roof over their head and food in their bellies. There is another side to the reality of America today. We have unfair and ever increasing taxes on the middle class while the rich get tax breaks. Our so called democracy is a farce. Our leaders don’t listen to the voice of the people. There don’t seem to be any honest politicians and recent history is riddled with scandals and scams. I love our soldiers and have no greater respect for anyone. They sacrifice their lives to keep us free but now we are stuck with a war no one wanted and now don’t know how to end. Our economy is in a recession because no one can manage to live within their means. We outsource all of our jobs and the unemployment rate continues to climb. While you wish to immigrate here, millions of people are here illegally in this country. Our government is going bankrupt because of greed and selfishness. Instead of Americans working for the common good and pursuing happiness, it seems most are now is self absorbed, egotistical and feel entitled to the same things people used to sweat and bleed for.

I love you, dear friend, enough to be honest with you. I hope you will consider what I have said but remember America is the greatest nation on earth and there are no other people like us Americans on this planet. I look forward to hearing from you soon. God bless America!
Yours truly,
Hilarie

My first post

Greetings and salutations to all out in blog land! I find life humorous most of the time. I used to relentlessly tease people who blog... and now here I am blogging my heart out for Eng 241! Life is beautiful.
I'm Hilarie. When my father was asked to describe me he said, " how do you stop a cruise missile powered with enthusiasm?" I love life and I love learning. I am 29 and my son, Prestan, is the center of my world. I enjoy anything that has to do with the arts. I love to read, sing and write poetry. I do charcoal and chalk drawings. I am always listening to music but theatre is my main passion. After I am done at JSRCC I will transfer to VCU and continue on to earn my BA in theatre. For now I am 29, unemployed and I live in my parents basement. (Impressive resume... don't you think?!) While attending JSRCC I am completing the American Sign Language Interpreter Education Program for my certificate and AAS degree. I am also earning my AA in Liberal Arts at the same time.
Last spring I took Literature in the U.S. deaf community. It will be interesting to see how these parallel each other. They take place around the same time period. I look forward to getting to know all my classmates better!