“I am loving that the World Cup has brought to our shores all these people,” comedian Bill Maher told his Real Time audience on Friday, “who are doing Americans the service of reminding us — just when we needed it on our big 250 birthday — that actually this place is kind of awesome.”
What Maher celebrated could be seen on social media, mostly. One German fan — and the first many American X users have encountered — is @FreddyLA7; his success is instructive, saying that he hasn’t “met a single unfriendly person.” If you follow his account, or many others like his, you’ll see a lot of stadium shots and talk of soccer wins and losses, but the real gems are among the many about American culture, vistas, and (of course) the food.
And because the World Cup is being held in 16 cities across the continent, Freddy and his fellow across-the-water fans have seen a lot.
“I’m absolutely in love with small town America,” he says in a post about “Island Pond in Vermont. They have a population of 750 people but there was quite a lot going on. They had a flea market, a nice deli, and a beautiful lake with people out on their boats.”
His enthusiasm has hit the television news shows, too, one quoting his ten-out-of-ten rating of Waffle House, and his pledge to return.
Maher shared numerous stories from foreign visitors, including one Australian man who complained, “I feel like I’ve been lied to my entire life about America . . . if you log onto the news everything’s bad, everything’s terrible. It’s not. It’s absolutely f*cking amazing.”
Yes, the “news” is a problem — especially the national sources, biggest stations and papers. But bracket out politics. Then what you see is a diversity of geography, still-vibrant markets, and friendly people in cities, towns, and rural communities all over.
And the sneaking idea that America is still great.
Again.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
Illustration: Youtube Screenshots
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One reply on “World Loving Cup”
As much as the politicians TRY to ruin America, there’s still a lot to love about it.
Since I work full-time in political media, burnout is inevitable. Lately I’ve been trying to set aside a day every week to two weeks to just go find a wilderness spot and hike for a few hours. Between that and riding a motorcycle (pro tip: When riding a motorcycle, don’t think about ANYTHING other than riding the motorcycle), I’m able to leave it all behind and just enjoy life.
I’ve only been in three other countries — Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, the latter during and immediately after a war — so I don’t have that much to compare America to. But I definitely prefer it from among my own sample.