Jenaicklefritz’s Weblog

…Two might be the same, but for the most part, the odds of finding identical ones are like point-some-ridiculous-number percent.

Now, for the record, this is only a lame request to people who’d actually said (out-loud and in public) negative comments about Americans without thinking about what their words really meant and how untrue those comments were. Okay, now that I’ve said that…

I know it’s difficult to “hear” a person’s voice when reading the words online, but I would like everyone who reads this blog to imagine my voice the way it is intended to be heard (as if I should say this to my audiences’ faces.) Please read this post in a calm, caring, mother-like voice, that asks you to hear me out, and even possibly consider what I’m saying.

When I was attending an International University, I’d met people from many different countries. I’ve made friends in all corners of the world (pretend Earth has corners, please.) Anyway, I’m an American, but that has not stopped me from going out on the weekends and drinking with, for example: a Peruvian, Iraqi, Japanese, and European. Not once had this kind of mix of nationalities ever made me feel uncomfortable in their company.

But sometimes on campus, I would still hear MANY comments about how foul and ill-willed Americans are… and to quote some of that negative opinion, I have heard these phrases: “overly dramatic,” “too patriotic,” “loud,” “obnoxious” and even “stupid.” To those people (some of whom were American, themselves,) I would like to just ask you (please) not to generalize every American under those stereotypes.

For some people, being American does not mean being super patriotic or any other extremist stereotypes that so many people unfortunately see. For many of my American friends, being American means being born into a family and location (both of which we have no control over,) and feel grateful that we live in a country where family can become your friend and friend can become your family. Most of us cherish that we have the freedom to create our lives the way we want them to be. I’m not saying it is any better than anywhere else, I’m just saying for those of us born in the USA, most of us are happy with the American ideals we are mocked for by non-American American-generalizers.

And for the Americans whose families have not become their friends, I think that is because they didn’t work for it. America is a capitalist society: everything comes for a price, and hard work is necessary, even to attain happiness. That means we each as individuals must work hard and make sacrifices for those we love. America means freedom to my family and friends, and we have the freedom to be friends with anyone and everyone in a peaceful and loving environment. And I believe that my friends and family are just as quiet and considerate, non-violent (yet pro-active), caring, and honest as any other person from any other culture, so I’m a little offended by people who call all Americans “loud” or “rude.”

And to those people who have made many anti-American generalizations, I want to tell them that I’ve also been out in public with either those specific generalizers this blog is aimed at, or people from their same culture(s), and at times they had been far more outlandish and “rude” in Japan, than myself and some other Americans that were along with us. I’m not complaining about that, for its natural to lose your head for a moment in a stressful situation, and we’re studying abroad… stress happened often and came with the territory. But I never accused their entire nation of being a hot-head just because I saw them flip out once or twice.

Anyway, yes, some Americans are loud and obnoxious, and yes, my country’s global policies and choices have not been the best decisions ever made… but in defense of a country built on an idea of peace and freedom, I would like to say this: According to history, all of us come from countries that have made global mistakes, not just Americans. And most countries have grown and learned from their past errors. America is still young and headstrong enough to try foreign policies no one else has yet, to see if ANYTHING will work, and there has been failures, but that should go without saying. Please don’t hate peaceful US citizens for mistakes brought on by good intentions of current screw-up leaders. Yes the road to hell is paved with good intentions and all that, but all countries at one point in history were in the same boat; so I’m asking the people this blog is aimed at to stop pointing fingers.

Remember, there are good and bad people in every country. If you haven’t seen the good, than you are doing one of two things: 1.) Having bad luck, or 2.) concentrating on something that really doesn’t have any affect on your life, and are missing out on something beautiful in this world.

I ask those generalizers to accept everyone, even Americans. Don’t be blinded by anger for something a select few Americans have done, because other countries have the same type of people too, whether you want to acknowledge it or not. You don’t have to like the cliche of Americans, or what some of our leaders have chosen in world politics, but keep in mind there are still many of us who are trying to be an example of a respectable human (American not even being a thought in our minds as we do so,) and those Americans do exist. I would like to consider you as my friend, but find your generalizing, not offensive to Americans in general, but offensive to me as a person who just happens to be American by birth… someone you’ve spoken with as a fellow classmate in Japan… Remember, we were both in an international school at one time. We weren’t there just to learn Japanese, we were there to learn how to open our minds.

*That last paragraph was directly intended and directed for/at the several people I met in Japan at school who made so many negative comments about Americans, that I’d never heard them say anything else. Luckily for me, they thought I was Swedish, and just kept running their mouths. I didn’t bother to point out that I was American, because obviously my nationality was not wanted. Oh well.