Since my wife Amparo is from Brazil, watching the World Cup is a mandatory event here at our house. So around eleven this morning, we flipped the tube to the Mexican TV station that had the World Cup on.
After about thirty minutes of Bud Light commercials, the camera panned to a group of young Soccer fans in New York City. They were all wearing American flag t-shirts, faces painted red-white and blue, chanting; USA USA USA at the tops of their lungs, holding a giant version of Old Glory in front of them.
Now the nice thing about this was, all the kids were obviously English second language, and from south of the border. And they had the class to root for their newly adopted homeland’s soccer team, and were doing it in style.
To punctuate that, when the US team set up for a penalty kick, my wife ran to the bedroom, grabbed our copy of the flag, and started waving it around like Dame Barbra Fritchie.
Amparo waving the flag with her "chemo" hat on...
That was nice too. In fact it was a damn nice day to be an American. Seeing that display of patriotism, instead of the same old crap, of people flying some other country’s flag over ours, upside-down, etc. made me proud for what this country still stands for. These kids were living proof.
Let’s pray this nation can give them the same chances our Grandfathers and Great-Grandfathers had, the same opportunities a free nation gives it’s people, to succeed and better themselves through hard work, and not live from the sweat of someone else’s brow.
It is the only legacy we can leave that counts.
That or maybe a nice red tank '69 CZ 360.
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