Don't Take for Granted

I know that most of you who read this blog were born in the United States and have always been able to exercise our liberties; but, this week’s blog is in honor of an industry colleague of mine who has been studying for her American citizenship.

I admire her as I know this cannot be easy; and, in the end she will know more about our rights as Americans than we actually will. She will need to take a test that will consist of 100 questions; here is an example of some of those questions:

• Why are there more Congressmen than Senators?
• Can you name the constitutional branches of government?
• How many cabinet members are there presently?
• What are the Duties of the Congress?
• Which States border Canada?
• What is meant by the words "Separation of Powers"?
• Who wrote the "Constitution of the United States"?
• When was the Constitution written?

How many of them did you get right? I will be honest I only got 3 of them right and that was really racking my brain to my 8th grade history and government classes when we learned a good deal of this information. If I had to take this test – I would fail. It also made me realize that almost all of us take for granted the freedom that we have.

I have traveled extensively over the last couple of decades due to my various jobs – I enjoyed seeing almost every country I was in; but, I loved coming home to the United States. What I realized while I traveled was we have so much available to us – we might not think so; but, do you have any idea how many brands of cereal or potato chips you can buy in the supermarket? Even in England there is a finite amount – there are probably no more than 3 brands of potato chips and 10 brands of cereal. When we lived in Puerto Rico during my teenage years my brother who was 9 years younger than me loved to eat Lucky Charms for breakfast. My mother could not find them in the grocery store so any family member or friend who was visiting us had to bring several boxes with them. Now, you do realize that Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth of the US and is only a 3 ½ hour flight from New York.

And how many of you have said something negative regarding one of our Presidents or a policy that has been passed? In some countries you could be jailed and/or even executed for voicing your opinion or writing it.

I have been to countries where I had to be cautious of what I said, where I had to let the man take the lead and walk behind them and where I had been warned to not leave my hotel room until my colleague arrived to escort me to dinner or the office. These are all things that we do not worry about in the US.

At this time we are hearing of the internal strife in countries such as Yemen, Egypt and Libya – what they are each fighting for is what we take for granted: the right for a democratic government where they can speak freely, vote for their leader and be fairly represented. I am not saying that it didn’t take us time to get there, women did not receive the right to vote until 1920 and African Americans did not receive the right to vote until 1965. But we got there through protest, rallying and being heard – change came about. And we only lose those rights if we have committed a crime and are prosecuted.

All I ask is that as you watch other countries fight for their rights you give thanks to those rights you take for granted on a daily basis. There are many individuals who risk their lives to become a US citizen; and, we should be thankful that we do not have to take any tests to receive those rights.

Best of luck Indi as you take your United States Citizenship test.