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It may seem ironic, but this year especially I felt a great deal of pride when I reflected on the historic day that has allowed us to experience life with every kind of freedom and opportunity at our feet.
It's not because I've been watching too many episodes of Oprah or reading the Federalist Papers cover to cover.
I've just always been a patriot.
And even though America has certainly seen better days, the difficult times we are experiencing now remind us that our success as a nation is measured by freedom, not wealth.
In honor of those sentiments, I felt that I had to make the most of my Independence Day celebrating this year, despite some gestures I didn't exactly appreciate.
After going to a friend's house to eat burgers and drink sweet tea while listening to the distinctly American melodies of Johnny Cash, I stopped by the cookout my roommate was throwing by the pool at our apartment complex.
It's just not an American holiday if you don't gain a couple pounds throughout the day.
Once it got to be 6 o'clock my friends, Ginna and Kim, and I decided to drive downtown and hang out by Lake Eola to watch the fireworks.
Considering all I did last year was peer over some trees and catch a glimpse of Oviedo's attempt at a fireworks show, I was pretty excited.
After we had nervously walked all the way from the parking garage by the Amway Arena to the lake — it was four dollars cheaper, don't judge me — I was overwhelmed by the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people gathered to eat hot dogs and funnel cake and watch a few fireworks go off.
Once we had found a good spot by the railing surrounding the lake we spread out Ginna's silver car sun visor, the only replacement we had for the blanket we forgot to bring, and took a seat.
We were located in front of the downtown Publix that was swarming with hungry, thirsty, bathroom-bound individuals who were unwilling to use the four or five portable toilets placed across the street from the store.
Kim waited in line with about 30 other women desperate to use a stall.
Ginna tweeted, "More than 30 people in line down the yogurt aisle to use the downtown Publix bathroom= proof port-o-potties need to catch up with the rest of society."
Once we returned from Publix it wasn't long before a group of men and women dressed in what appeared to be traditional East Indian garb, saris and kurtas, started marching around the lake banging on bongos and chanting in an unfamiliar language.
Normally I wouldn't have minded such a cultural display, but since this was the one day of the year for Americans to celebrate their culture and heritage I quickly became offended.
I wondered how the citizens of another nation would feel if a group of Americans stomped through their independence day celebration waving stars and stripes and singing "Yankee Doodle."
I'm not criticizing them because of their culture or religion, it has nothing to do with race or ethnicity, I just don't think it was the appropriate time or place for them to be publicly displaying nationalism for a nation other than America.
Throughout the course of the night, however, I began to wonder if the American expressions of patriotism were any less annoying.
During the fireworks show multiple adults behind me repeatedly shouted, "Democracy!" at the top of their lungs and, as we walked back to the car, a large group of teenagers sang "God Bless America" so off-key I thought my ears were going to bleed.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciated the enthusiasm and, like I said, I'm a patriot. I didn't spend four hours downtown just to see some explosive devices burst into sparkling confetti in the sky.
I just wish that same fervor could have been expressed in ways that didn't hurt my ears more than the booms and cracklings of pyrotechnics.
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26 comments
Maybe that was their way of saying "hey, we're happy to be in america."
Did you consider that?