Adopted
Mon, December 12, 2022 Parents of an adopted child will often tell them. “We chose you, and that makes you special.” I came to these United States in January 1979, in a few weeks’ time I will have lived here 44 years. That is longer than I lived in England, the country of my birth.
I adopted this country, which makes it special. I do not take this country or it’s people for granted as I might have done had I been born here.
A country and its people are one of the same, The USA being so large often feels like several different countries. To understand this, a person has to travel and live many places, as I have done.
From New Jersey, close to New York City, to San Diego, California. Then gradually northwards to Riverside County, to Los Angeles. To Eugene, Oregon, then back across this country to South Carolina.
Throughout my travels, on meeting strangers, because of my accent as soon as I open my mouth I am viewed as a foreigner. Just as it is unwise for an American to travel overseas and express a political opinion, it is also best I remain neutral.
By taking political opinions out of the equation, I tend to see others as either good or bad, which is all there is really. If I choose friends based solely on some political leaning, I miss out on some good people, and allow others closer than they should be, taking my best interest into account.
I have no room for negativity in my life, either people or obsessing over it in the news or social media. Sadly, the media thrives on negativity, but I have come to realize if I look at the perspective of it, the goodness in the world, far outweighs the bad.
For example, I read about a mass shooting somewhere, and five or six people died. Not to make light of such a tragedy, but out of a population of over 300 million, the ratio of evil as opposed to good is a tiny percentage.
My point is, I can do little as an individual to stop these heinous acts, but when the good far outweighs the evil, why would I dwell on the bad?
You can define a country as the land mass it occupies, but the real spirit of any country, its heart and soul, is its people. As long as good people far outweigh the bad, and love outweighs the hate, there is hope.
Reader Comments (3)
Well said.
Dave, we were refugees when we lived in England, known as DPs (displaced persons). But to the native English we were always "foreigners". Jobs were hard to find. In the mid-fifties we emigrated to Canada and became "New Canadians". I never heard the term "foreigner" used to describe us again. Canada called itself a "mosaic" while the U.S. was a "melting pot". I guess it depends on whether immigrants would rather assimilate or have their own ghetto, or try to change the country. I actually prefer the melting pot. When I arrived in Canada I worked hard at eliminating my cockney accent and succeeded .It's interesting how some English immigrants drop the accent and others never do .In your case I admire you for not assimilating to become a generic "American" due to your illustrious career in frame building.
Hey Dave,
This is neither here nor there, but did you ever write about how you came to be in South Carolina? Just curious...