When I was a kid (3rd-6th grade), my dad, who was in the Air Force, got assigned to Spain for 3 years (1957-60). We lived for 2 years in a little town called Alcalá de Guidiquivir about ten miles from Sevilla, amongst the Spaniards and not on the military base. The last year they finally built base housing and we lived in a patio home on base outside of Sevilla.
While living there was exciting, educational and a life experience I have never forgotten (we also took trips through Europe, Greece, Great Britain and North Africa while there), it was the trip home that was the most satisfying.
When our return flight landed in Dover, Delaware and we picked up our car and left base, it was like entering another world. I literally knelt down and kissed the ground, thankful to be back in the US after three years abroad.
Even at that young age, I recognized how lucky we were to be from the US and how much nicer things were in the states. It took awhile to get used to how modern and clean everything was compared to Spain and the rest of Europe.
From then on, I felt grateful for having been born in the US and for how nice we had it here. Most of my classmates in school did not know how good they had it because they had nothing to compare it to.
And I think that is the problem with many in the US who have never been anywhere else in the world. They don't know how well we have it here and constantly complain about what they don't have or how we should be more like Europe.
Trust me folks, there is a reason why so many people around the world want to come to America. It's not because we don't have our own problems but that our problems pale in comparison to how most of the rest of the world live.
We truly are lucky to be born in America. I learned that first-hand as a kid and have never forgotten it.
Yes, but we’re not Motel 6 for the whole world. We need to go back to pre-1965 immigration quotas.