A Nation of Doers

They say to never start anything on the Internet with an apology, but I'm gonna do it anyway because fight the power. Life's been hard these past few weeks. I have a fast-approaching deadline for a writing competition, and I've been scouring every crevice between the couch cushions of the Internet for a job that could actually help pay off my school debt. And yesterday, while chewing a piece of meat, my sideways wisdom tooth (yes, sideways) made me feel like Bruce Willis kicked me in the mouth (to which Harris Teeter says NEIN! No dental insurance for you!). So, long story short, sorry for not posting more lately.

This was going to be my big 4th of July "what-does-it-mean-to-be-American" post, but I'll give it to you now. Sadly, this has become a common perception of Americans in general:

Couch potatoes.

But if you define "American" in terms of what this country was built on, the opposite is true. Being American means cleaning deli counters and stepping on rotten meat and cheese because you have a dream, and that dream needs money. It means that when you don't like the way things are, you DO something about it, no matter how painful. Our nation's founders were tired of getting kicked around, so they started a revolution. And for those of us with immigrant ancestors, we know that when they realized America was the place for them, they didn't just sit at home, watch Netflix, and make sarcastic comments about how their home country sucked and they should totally move someday. Instead, they came to America and started over. Simply put, America has been a nation of "doers" in the past, and now we need to step up and keep it that way. If you want something, go for it. If you see a problem, help fix it. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world" (and no, it's not enough to wear that quote on a t-shirt).

I overheard an elderly woman at my neighborhood pool last week, talking to the college-age pool attendant. Basically, she said she believed her (the girl's) generation had the tenacity and resourcefulness to make the world a better place. To my fellow twenty-somethings: let's prove her right.