I'm proud to be smonster's friend.

Hey, me too!

bonny, love the hat!!

Wait, this is the friend who expects you to take care of her cat for over two weeks with no notice? Oh, dear. Again, I can be a last-minute thoughtless favor-asker (amyth, still feel bad about that stuff), but that is just... ridiculous. Is she, by chance, a recovering people-pleaser who's swung completely the other way?

I am proud to be the friend of many a Bitch.

I am doing dishes for ten minutes at a time, while listening to Girl on Guy. I think I'm going to try and make productivity FUN today. WHEE.

Is she, by chance, a recovering people-pleaser who's swung completely the other way?

Got it in one!!!

Her pendulum has swung all the way over to "I'm taking care of myself and everyone else can just suck it."

All I ask is common courtesy and, frankly, would never in a million years _expect_ anyone to do ANYthing for me out of friendship. I'm infinitely grateful when they do, but I don't consider being a friend an excuse for not considering someone's feelings.

Sigh.

I just can't take the argument 'I had a hard time 30 years ago, so I can be rude to you now' as a viable excuse.

I'm in Arizona. I have a disability. Independence Day for me is either ironic or a Springsteen song. America is like my family--there's both pride and shame. But there are ideals that come from that experiment that I do believe in, even though the way we live up to them is imperfect.

Independence Day for me is either ironic or a Springsteen song.

This is perfect erika.

I love that song, actually...it kills me every time.

So, despite all the stuff you noted, I'm still proud to be an American. Cause I know I may not have ever had the chance to speak up against those issues. I may not have ever gotten an education.

Great perspective- thank you for sharing it.

I guess I should note that I don't feel anti-American either. I certainly recognize that things are often worse in other countries and there are still many freedoms and possibilities here.

But my heart doesn't swell with pride when I see the flag, you know? I'm just too conscious of how that kind of patriotism, that sense of nationalism is a way to cover over deeper issues and manipulate people.

Co-signed!

I love America, in that I love the *idea* of America. We've strayed quite a bit from that. Those who saw me at the DC F2F might remember that, if you put me in front of certain DC monuments, I'll get all patriotically misty-eyed. Especially things like the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials.

But when I think too much about how short we are from that ideal, I get very sad and disheartened. So today, for me, is much more about food and friends. And fireworks.

I should say that I'm not in the 'these colors don't run' school of patriotism.

Every time I see the phrase "these colors don't run" I remember Commander Vimes in "Jingo" saying "Sure they do, if you get them wet."

I'm grateful more than proud. I don't think America is the best country, though I do think it's a good one; but mostly I am grateful for the opportunities and freedoms it has given me.