4th of July - A Perspective
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In 1906, my great grandfather emigrated from Scotland to Canada with his family; at the time, my grandmother was 6 years old. I don't know that she ever officially took an oath to become a Canadian citizen; as I recall, there may have been a piece of legislation passed that made landed immigrants citizens in bulk. So.. my father was a first generation Canadian by birth. As a child, we were taught general disdain for Americans; they weren't like us... therefore, they couldn't be trusted. In 1999, I emigrated from Canada to the United States to take a job. I soon realized the disdain I had been taught was largely in error... American's may have some different values, but they were mostly just people trying to support their families. A number of years later, I married an American and we have a daughter who is an American. So what does the 4th of July mean to me? It means the freedom to pursue my dreams, to work within the confines of the law to better myself, to provide for my family, to freely worship if I so choose. For most of my time in the U.S., I have worked with children during the week. When we say the pledge of allegiance, and I do say the pledge, I tell them: if you live here, that flag represents the freedoms you enjoy, paid for in lives by those that came before you. While you live here, respect the flag. At a later day, if you choose to move elsewhere, I hope you do well, but, for now... respect the flag. Today, we celebrate those hard fought freedoms. And I, a non-American, salute those who came before.
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In 1906, my great grandfather emigrated from Scotland to Canada with his family; at the time, my grandmother was 6 years old. I don't know that she ever officially took an oath to become a Canadian citizen; as I recall, there may have been a piece of legislation passed that made landed immigrants citizens in bulk. So.. my father was a first generation Canadian by birth. As a child, we were taught general disdain for Americans; they weren't like us... therefore, they couldn't be trusted. In 1999, I emigrated from Canada to the United States to take a job. I soon realized the disdain I had been taught was largely in error... American's may have some different values, but they were mostly just people trying to support their families. A number of years later, I married an American and we have a daughter who is an American. So what does the 4th of July mean to me? It means the freedom to pursue my dreams, to work within the confines of the law to better myself, to provide for my family, to freely worship if I so choose. For most of my time in the U.S., I have worked with children during the week. When we say the pledge of allegiance, and I do say the pledge, I tell them: if you live here, that flag represents the freedoms you enjoy, paid for in lives by those that came before you. While you live here, respect the flag. At a later day, if you choose to move elsewhere, I hope you do well, but, for now... respect the flag. Today, we celebrate those hard fought freedoms. And I, a non-American, salute those who came before.
Tim Carmichael wrote:
So what does the 4th of July mean to me? It means the freedom to pursue my dreams, to work within the confines of the law to better myself, to provide for my family, to freely worship if I so choose
All of which you could have done before the 4th july, or in the UK.
Tim Carmichael wrote:
I soon realized the disdain I had been taught was largely in error
Seems like you need to take a fresh look at what you have been told again. :)
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In 1906, my great grandfather emigrated from Scotland to Canada with his family; at the time, my grandmother was 6 years old. I don't know that she ever officially took an oath to become a Canadian citizen; as I recall, there may have been a piece of legislation passed that made landed immigrants citizens in bulk. So.. my father was a first generation Canadian by birth. As a child, we were taught general disdain for Americans; they weren't like us... therefore, they couldn't be trusted. In 1999, I emigrated from Canada to the United States to take a job. I soon realized the disdain I had been taught was largely in error... American's may have some different values, but they were mostly just people trying to support their families. A number of years later, I married an American and we have a daughter who is an American. So what does the 4th of July mean to me? It means the freedom to pursue my dreams, to work within the confines of the law to better myself, to provide for my family, to freely worship if I so choose. For most of my time in the U.S., I have worked with children during the week. When we say the pledge of allegiance, and I do say the pledge, I tell them: if you live here, that flag represents the freedoms you enjoy, paid for in lives by those that came before you. While you live here, respect the flag. At a later day, if you choose to move elsewhere, I hope you do well, but, for now... respect the flag. Today, we celebrate those hard fought freedoms. And I, a non-American, salute those who came before.
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In 1906, my great grandfather emigrated from Scotland to Canada with his family; at the time, my grandmother was 6 years old. I don't know that she ever officially took an oath to become a Canadian citizen; as I recall, there may have been a piece of legislation passed that made landed immigrants citizens in bulk. So.. my father was a first generation Canadian by birth. As a child, we were taught general disdain for Americans; they weren't like us... therefore, they couldn't be trusted. In 1999, I emigrated from Canada to the United States to take a job. I soon realized the disdain I had been taught was largely in error... American's may have some different values, but they were mostly just people trying to support their families. A number of years later, I married an American and we have a daughter who is an American. So what does the 4th of July mean to me? It means the freedom to pursue my dreams, to work within the confines of the law to better myself, to provide for my family, to freely worship if I so choose. For most of my time in the U.S., I have worked with children during the week. When we say the pledge of allegiance, and I do say the pledge, I tell them: if you live here, that flag represents the freedoms you enjoy, paid for in lives by those that came before you. While you live here, respect the flag. At a later day, if you choose to move elsewhere, I hope you do well, but, for now... respect the flag. Today, we celebrate those hard fought freedoms. And I, a non-American, salute those who came before.
Tim Carmichael wrote:
As a child, we were taught general disdain for Americans; they weren't like us... therefore, they couldn't be trusted.
Really ? From a Canadian point of view, I find that weird; We often say "There is a a difference between the US politics and the US people". Most american I've met are nice people. Even in Europe, the US people are seen as nice people.
I'd rather be phishing!
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Tim Carmichael wrote:
As a child, we were taught general disdain for Americans; they weren't like us... therefore, they couldn't be trusted.
Really ? From a Canadian point of view, I find that weird; We often say "There is a a difference between the US politics and the US people". Most american I've met are nice people. Even in Europe, the US people are seen as nice people.
I'd rather be phishing!
The US army bases near the Canadian border, the plans, drawn up between the wars, to invade Canada? It was the ill will from the war of independence and the 1810 war of complete humiliation (for the US :) )
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Tim Carmichael wrote:
As a child, we were taught general disdain for Americans; they weren't like us... therefore, they couldn't be trusted.
Really ? From a Canadian point of view, I find that weird; We often say "There is a a difference between the US politics and the US people". Most american I've met are nice people. Even in Europe, the US people are seen as nice people.
I'd rather be phishing!
As I said, as I child we were taught that... doesn't make it right, but it is what I was taught.
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In 1906, my great grandfather emigrated from Scotland to Canada with his family; at the time, my grandmother was 6 years old. I don't know that she ever officially took an oath to become a Canadian citizen; as I recall, there may have been a piece of legislation passed that made landed immigrants citizens in bulk. So.. my father was a first generation Canadian by birth. As a child, we were taught general disdain for Americans; they weren't like us... therefore, they couldn't be trusted. In 1999, I emigrated from Canada to the United States to take a job. I soon realized the disdain I had been taught was largely in error... American's may have some different values, but they were mostly just people trying to support their families. A number of years later, I married an American and we have a daughter who is an American. So what does the 4th of July mean to me? It means the freedom to pursue my dreams, to work within the confines of the law to better myself, to provide for my family, to freely worship if I so choose. For most of my time in the U.S., I have worked with children during the week. When we say the pledge of allegiance, and I do say the pledge, I tell them: if you live here, that flag represents the freedoms you enjoy, paid for in lives by those that came before you. While you live here, respect the flag. At a later day, if you choose to move elsewhere, I hope you do well, but, for now... respect the flag. Today, we celebrate those hard fought freedoms. And I, a non-American, salute those who came before.
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In 1906, my great grandfather emigrated from Scotland to Canada with his family; at the time, my grandmother was 6 years old. I don't know that she ever officially took an oath to become a Canadian citizen; as I recall, there may have been a piece of legislation passed that made landed immigrants citizens in bulk. So.. my father was a first generation Canadian by birth. As a child, we were taught general disdain for Americans; they weren't like us... therefore, they couldn't be trusted. In 1999, I emigrated from Canada to the United States to take a job. I soon realized the disdain I had been taught was largely in error... American's may have some different values, but they were mostly just people trying to support their families. A number of years later, I married an American and we have a daughter who is an American. So what does the 4th of July mean to me? It means the freedom to pursue my dreams, to work within the confines of the law to better myself, to provide for my family, to freely worship if I so choose. For most of my time in the U.S., I have worked with children during the week. When we say the pledge of allegiance, and I do say the pledge, I tell them: if you live here, that flag represents the freedoms you enjoy, paid for in lives by those that came before you. While you live here, respect the flag. At a later day, if you choose to move elsewhere, I hope you do well, but, for now... respect the flag. Today, we celebrate those hard fought freedoms. And I, a non-American, salute those who came before.
I love americans, when I travelled to Mexico my favourite part was sitting in the airport bar in Atlanta or Houston chatting to the yanks for 6 hours whilst waiting for my flight; they are so interesting and friedly You could even chat to lone women without them thinking that you're cracking on to them, something you can't do in England