Death to Generalizations!

So, yesterday I was walking along the river in town and ranting silently in my head. Then I met up with an American friend and filled her in on my ranting thoughts.

This particular rant was a sort of twisted cultural frustration. I have found myself cringing at the little comments some of my Romanian friends make about American culture. Many of them in response to MY life being UNlike their idea of a "normal American." I have found it somewhat interesting to hear people from another country and culture (some of whom HAVE been to America to visit,) tell me that I am not a "normal American." I find their generalizations interesting. It's been a bit eye opening to hear what they really think of America and her people.

I'm fully aware that the whole:

 "Everybody loves America, the Land of the Free, Most Wonderful Country

 in the World and the Place Every Person Dreams of Living" 

....is complete BOGUS. It's easy to see that not everybody loves America. I have been known to criticize my country now and then. I know Americans can be cocky, conceited, rude, loud, horrible with other languages and often generally lack experience with outside cultures. I do not believe America is God's chosen nation to rule the world. I do not believe that America can be considered a "Christian Nation." I do believe many people have bought into the "American Dream" and while perhaps ending up physically satisfied, found their souls empty and wanting. I will freely admit that I have some poor habits that could be distinctly classified as "American."

However, at the end of the day: I am still an American, and honesty not ashamed. I'm probably even prideful about it (not claiming that's a good thing.) I am thankful for my life in America. I'm glad I can say I grew up in America, a place where cultures have mixed and blended without losing all of their originality. I love that my favorite foods are often classified as: Mexican, Italian or Chinese; all of which are most assuredly Americanized in the way we eat them. I enjoying living in a country that has incredible diversity within it's own borders. I have friends who grew up in America, yet have a near inability to comprehend the way I grew up. I love that generalizations have no true application when it comes to American living.

 I'm glad I can say I grew up in a home where we ate home-cooked meals and my mom stayed at home with us as our mom AND teacher. Reminiscing about our ten day family vacation when we planned and cooked ahead so that we only ate out for two meals always brings a smile. Living in towns of 5,000 people or less has it's advantages. For instance, my dad could come home from work for lunch. We could also walk or ride our bikes anywhere. In our home I never thought twice about moving my brothers guns around in the closet when there was a tornado warning and we had to stay in there for a while. In our home family game night was the norm and we only had 3 and a half channels on the TV. As kids, when we had bad attitudes my mom created "attitude checks" where you had to raise your hands in the air and say, "Praise the Lord!" My grandpa taught me to drive on country roads in the pick-up when I was 13 years old. I used to baby-sit for up to 12 kids every week and I nannied for a family with 9 kids. My idea of summer fun was going camping at the lake with my family and tubing and water skiing. It would probably really shock some people, Romanian and American, to say that at one time I lived alone in a house and never locked my doors, even at night, and I still slept peacefully. All these things that were so "normal" for my life are often considered abnormal, unusual and absurd to my friends here. Yet, that was my life.

What I realized after my rant is that I was irritated because people where expecting me to fit into their generalization of what a "normal American" is like. In reality, there is no such thing as a "normal" American. The only consistency in American life is inconsistency. I don't know anyone who grew up exactly like me. I was also reminded through all of this that I despise generalizations! I learned this about myself a few years ago and have found it to be consistently true. I let myself become frustrated by people making generalizations about any group of people. When I worked at a group home I would fight for the individuality of every one of my girls. When I talk to Americans about Romanians or the Roma people I fight to show a diverse picture and cringe at every generalization that is thrown out in an effort to grasp a culture they don't understand. Yet, even with my extreme aversion to generalizations, I still fall into the trap. I'm still learning about Romanian culture. I know I have made generalizations about Romanians or certain groups within this country. The next time I start thinking about the people around me and begin generalizing, I'm going to stop and remember how it feels to be put in a box. I'm going to remind myself that the people around me are individuals and were each created intricately by our Creator. I guess this was just one more lesson in my cultural journey.