Obviously, I am an immigrant to the USA. If you read my blog at all, that much is very obvious. I am a bit more sensitive to a few topics such legal versus illegal immigration and the quality of life provided to my family in the nation I am living in. My views are based on that which is proven to work which happens to be conservative in nature. You can read my blog go figure out what that all means. But there are times when someone can say something that just sticks in your mind no matter what.

One such line came from a comment from someone surprising. The line was …

“Why would anyone who wasn’t born here (USA) want to come here (USA)? I will never understand.”

That line floored me. First, the ignorance of the statement astounded me. What stuck in my mind was I am from a different country and came here. She said that question to me, the legal immigrant. Did it dawn on that person’s mind who she was saying that too? For obvious reasons, relations are a bit strained between us now.

But let me focus on the line itself and a variety of related issues. As is the case in most of the world, there are significant portions of people who really never leave the area they were born in for a variety of reasons. Some flat out do not travel for whatever their reasons. Often, the same people do not bother reading much and just focus on their busy lives or the idiot box, the TV. Whatever the combination is, they end up with little written knowledge or personal experience outside of their world. This makes them ill-suited to understand life elsewhere. The attitude of the person comes into this equation as to whether they are willing to learn and strive to understand or are close-minded and define the world based on their limited experiences.

None of that excuses such ignorance of reality, the history of the nation she is living in, and the general public image of what the USA is. The basic level of reality that is being ignored is the entire basis of tourism. Some individuals want to see what the world is like. You can read about it but experiencing it is totally different. You can read about winter, watch movies about winter, but until you freeze your nose off and get stuck in a snow drift, you won’t understand what winter really is. Substitute whatever feature of any tourist destination of your choice and that is the basis for why people want to travel.

Ignoring the history and general public image of the USA as the land where freedoms are many and far greater than nearly any other nation on the planet and the assumed astounding wealth (as portrayed by Hollywood and understood by the general populace of the world) is nothing short of jaw-dropping ignorance. I can’t think of a better term for it. Between the freedoms and the standard of living, there are many reasons for visiting and immigrating to the USA. (Some may not be as well-founded in actual reality but I’ve written about that.)

Here is the greatest punch-line that person doesn’t get. She isn’t a Native American. Her ancestors immigrated here. Perhaps she should trace her family tree and ask why they decided to come to the USA or the land that was to be the USA.

Thank you,

Anah

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