Lets clarify this, I am an almost six foot tall, slightly overweight (I like to call it healthy, it helps me sleep at night), loud, sometimes rude, but mostly proud, christian girl. I am not ashamed of any part of my personality (although maybe I could refrain from glaring at people so much, thanks RBF!) but I also know that a lot of the qualities I listed are ones that cause other countries to look down on America. Which begs the question, why am I so worried about what someone thinks about me based simply on my country?
The reason for this tirade comes in the form of a friend visiting from Germany. The instant I saw her petite, and quiet self sitting at the counter looking dainty and sweet, I knew it would be a long day. Now don't get me wrong she was a lovely girl and never did anything to imply that I was anything other than a nice girl, but I couldn't help but feel the entire weight of my country bearing down on me.
Live music in the stockyards, which is obviously a hopping place at 3 pm on a Wednesday.
Note: This is the low quality picture one should expect when one is too afraid to carry one's professional camera around. Sorry guys, I'll do better next time.
We went to the zoo and not long into the trip one of my Texan friend's and I realized we hadn't eaten for a while and thus made it our mission to track down food. Not long after sitting down at Burger king eating my food, I kept feeling the need to explain that I don't normally eat Burger King (which is absolutely true, I eat McDonalds) or apologize for my friend's loud behavior. Every time someone would cause a ruckus, I would look immediately to my German friend with large "don't tell all of your friend's back home that we are fat and idiotic" eyes. I hope they worked.
After the zoo, at the water gardens (home of the "interactive sculpture"). Me, the relative jolly green giant near the back next to the tiny German girl in white.
Note: we look like we're shooting laser beams with our eyes because red-eye reducer is harder to work than I originally thought.
But this just makes me question why I feel the need to apologize for myself and my friends for simply acting like ourselves? I'm sure she doesn't sit quietly on the couch at home in Germany, never raising her voice or eating a cookie. I think that age old saying "It's what's on the inside that counts" could be applied well here. While yes, a friend of mine did mess with a statue that probably shouldn't have been messed with, I know that he truly believed that it was an interactive sculpture (no one has quiet decided, I mean the sculpture did spin...) and I also know that if he thought he had actually ruined art work, he would be very upset. I also know that my German friend isn't as quiet as she seemed from our time spent together today and was simply reacting to a strange environment.
The point of this entire tirade is to explain why I, as an average American girl, should not feel guilty for simply being born in the country I was. As long as I don't expect anyone else to apologize for being from their country of birth, I don't intend to worry myself over the thought of someone in Germany laughing at our odd American antics, Which just leaves me to eat my McDonalds in peace.
No comments
Post a Comment