AMERICAN IDENTITY: The walk from school

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The walk from school

My high school was exciting, and it was here I met my best friend, John. As we got from school, one of the Fridays, we decided to walk and see how the environment was beautiful. We got tired before we got so far, but it was worth the exercise and the chat. “John! Why don’t we walk today instead of using the bus?” I suggested. Without even thinking twice about it, John agreed that we were to walk our way home since both of our families were so close to each other. As we began our journey home, John began to ask me what I thought about politics and if I could vie for a political position at any moment. I was shocked at his view. “You know, it is only president Obama whom I liked. The other presidents have just been acting and doing so little and I` feel bad that America is going in this way”, he stated.

To add to his sentiments, I tried to remember the most significant achievement of President Obama, and I could not hold back to the Obama care. “You know I also admire him, and he is like a role model to me; my grandmother could not be alive if it were not for Obama care which he introduced.” John believed Obama was an outstanding president, and he always tried to compare him with President Trump, which I found uncouth and tried to mention to him that it was not the best thing to do. He always insisted that president Obama build the American economy to a very great extent. What president trump was doing was making the economy fall to its lowest points. “He just does not care about anything, not even his family.” When he started this, I remembered Michelle Obama and the Obama family. I had always admired how they were in love and cared for one another.

“I think having a family like that of the Obamas is one of the sweetest things a person can achieve, plus the achievement of being the president and having such an intelligent and lovely wife,” this I stated as John put on a song ‘make America great again’ by Frank Turner. We listened as we paused a little bit in our talking to contemplate what it means to be Americans. Before the music ended, John asked me a question that I still have not found an answer to, “by the way, I always ask myself, and now I ask you, do you think the rest of the world is jealous of America?” With this kind of question, the straightforward answer that came to my mind was yes, but then thinking deeply, I realized that some countries were not jealous of America but hated the country and its people. Watching international news at one point, I had discovered that some countries and some individuals hated the country which encouraged same-sex marriage, and they termed our beautiful country as a place of the devil. Even though this does not hold as John insisted, it still made a person feel bad about it.

“Hey, look over there; I want to buy one of those,” John signaled me to an old man who was selling caps written make ‘America great again’. I tried to look into my pockets for money, and I only found 3 dollars, yet it was being sold at 5 dollars. “Hey John, I do not have money, but I need the cap,” He looked at me and grinned as he took two caps and paid for both of them. He also put one on my head, and I was happy I had a friend like him. We continued with our walking, and John suddenly asked, “What were we talking about” I also could not remember since we had talked about president Obama, trump and how other people view America.

“What do you think is the place of religion in American lifestyle and governance” asking me this question; I remembered that I had been given such an assignment in one of my college courses, and therefore this was the perfect time to answer him. I tried to remember what I had written, but I was unable to grasp it completely. However, I remembered that religion had a role to play, especially during Martin Luther King junior and the fight for the rights of women and the black people. “I think I will share with you my answer to that question later when I am at home because I did such an assignment. I really cannot remember what I wrote.” With these words, we found ourselves at the junction that led to our different homes. This was where we parted ways, still thinking about American patriotism and what the presidents meant for the American people.