DanOlson81's VirtualTourist Home Page

"I wanna pledge allegience to the country where I live.. i don't wanna be ashamed to be American, but the opportunity of it doesn't exist; its the opiate of the populous"...

these lyrics best describe how i feel living in the US especially in the last few years of political turmoil and embarassment.. Regardless of your political stance, when an American leaves the country he/she is a representative of all the mistakes and misinformation that our government embodies... whether the country i visit supports the moral stance of my country or not, i cant help but feel apologetic when i say "i am from the U.S." which is why i have always dodged the conversation on where i'm from when outside the states.. when i was in Paris last year, our waiter was a complete *** until he asked us if we were american and we said that we were CANADIAN... once he found that out, he was one of the nicest people i have ever met... he sat down next to us and chatted about where we were staying, what we had seen, and advised us about what scams to be aware of and certain areas of Paris we should avoid... while i'm sure not every european has contempt for americans, it was the first major example of how differently some people are treated when the subject of their nationality is brought up... and yet the fact that he was so different when his assumptions were allegedly false about us did not upset me.. i was relieved that he believed us.. i'm not asking that the entire world should have to agree with our political views or morals; all i ask is that everyone i meet make their judgements of me based on what they think of me as a person who is curious to learn about the world's cultures and meet people of all religion, creed, race, and personality... and i promise to do the same when i meet you...