June 21, 2007
What makes America America?
The Dallas Morning News has a blog for its editorial board to engage in rapidfire discussions on any number of subjects. One new feature is the Topic of the Day (TD for short), where an editor picks something for the other editors to chime in on over the course of the day.
Today's TD was "Looking for America."
Todd Roberson gave the best answer to his own question at the end of the day.
There are certain experiences I've had in this country that, no matter how hard I tried, I could never duplicate anywhere else I've lived ... When I walk into an American baseball stadium (and I'm thinking of Camden Yards in Baltimore), my heart starts pumping. I look around at the seats, the scoreboard, the hot dog stands, the skyline in the background, and the players on the field, and I know -- I really feel it with a jolt -- that I'm in America.
When a high school marching band plays at a football game on a crisp fall evening, I know that there is no other place in the world where I can duplicate that feeling. I know I'm in America. (High school marching bands are almost unique to America.)
And there's a feeling I get when the summer sun sets over a corn field on the flat plains around Lubbock, when people are finishing their day and it's time to wind down, that I simply have not been able to recreate anywhere else in the world.
There's a whole lot of stuff that goes into the making of each scenario I've mentioned. It takes a family and school to raise the marchers in the high school band. It takes devoted fans to make baseball worth its while. It's a package deal. I know it when I see it. That's why, on my very first night back in the States after 10 years on the road as a foreign correspondent, the only thing I wanted to do was go see my daughter's middle school football team play a game. You just can't get that anywhere else.
Nicely put.
Posted by Mike Lief at June 21, 2007 10:06 PM
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