Sunday I was in a bar in a teeny town of Gulfport, Florida. Nestled on a finger of land sticking out into a cut of Tampa Bay and separated from the Gulf of Mexico by St. Petersburgh beach, this bar, named H.T. Kane's reminds me of all that is great about America.
I sat at the outdoor section. Four bare metal poles supporting an old, faded, blue- looks-like-metal-but-not-quite-sure rooftop. An Irish flag, so faded that you can barely tell the colors, hangs from one eyelet on a string across the bar.
Every seat in the house has a view of the water, condominiums and boats going by. When it rains, depending upon where you sit, you get wet because there are no walls; it's "open" seating.
Speaking of "open", there were, for some reason, an unusual amount of what appeared to be "partners" at this bar. I was later told by a friend who lives there that this bar was one of the places that all types of people could come to and feel comfortable.
A family was on one end, picking out what to eat on the menu. I was eating peel-and-eats, which is also called steamed shrimp in other parts of the country, and fried grouper nuggets, which are exactly what they are called and they are spelled d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.
A fat white dude, who I later found out was the owner, was singing R & B tunes at the front of the bar while playing a drum machine.
You haven't lived until you see a fat white guy who looks like your Granddad with long hair sing Aretha Franklin's "Respect" at the top of his lungs.
A bartender I had met earlier was a college student who had just moved here from Wisconsin and getting her first taste of Florida and life away from home.
It was while I was sitting there, watching the drops of moisture run down the side of my ice-cold adult beverage, that I said to myself, "God Bless America."
This bar I was in was a small cross section of our country and what it stands for.
Our country was founded by a bunch of hyperactive guys that didn't play well with others and had problems with authority.
They basically told the King of England, "Up yours, we're aren't going to your church and as a matter of fact, just to show you, we are all going to get on these itty-bitty boats, aim for the horizon and hope we make it, because we ain't staying here."
So, with their fingers telling the King that he was number one, they sailed off towards the horizon.
All because they wanted to be free to do their thing.
We all know what happened when the King tried to flex his muscles, tax the colonies and all that jazz. He thought he could discipline the rabble that were the colonists and show them who was boss, and he got his rear end handed to him.
In the short time this country has been around, it has become one of the most powerful on the planet.
I heard a quote from a book the other day that said if you shrunk down the world's population to 100 people and kept all the economic and demographic ratios the same, six out of the 100 would control all the wealth of the group and all six would be Americans.
How is that possible.
Because of tolerance and choice.
This country is great because we choose to be. Our ancestors chose to leave England and come to America.
My great grandparents left Germany to come to America. They were farmers and my grandfather became a farmer. He became the richest man in Buffalo, New York because of his bean picking business.
He told me that if his family would have stayed in Germany, he never would have had that opportunity.
Almost everyone who's here in America can trace their roots somewhere else. I bet you know where your ancestors came from and it isn't America.
We all started somewhere else but came here. For opportunity. For liberty and freedom. To be left alone to do what we believe is the right thing for us to do.
America is great because as long as it's legal, you are free to do (or not do) whatever you want.
And the great part...you don't have to like what any one else is doing. You don't have to believe what I believe and I don't have to believe what you believe.
But we're both free to do it.
That's what makes us great. That's what's made us the Big Boy on the Block. That's what gives you, your family and your friends the freedom to do or become whatever you want.
Which brings me back to the bar. You could get hot under the collar about the "partners" and their lifestyle. You could get mad at the guy who brought his family to a bar. You could get mad at me for eating fried grouper nuggets, which are obviously not healthy for me.
You should get mad at the old white guy mangling Aretha's song like he did.
But this is America. Everyone gets to choose what they want and do what they want. Like it or not, it's what has made our country great.
The next time you get a chance, sit back and reflect on what has gotten our country to where it is. Think about the choices you've made. Think of all the sacrifice that has gone in to giving us the chance and opportunity to live like we do.
There's a quote I heard from Ronald Reagan. I can't remember in its entirety so I'll just try to get you the idea behind the message.
He said that freedom was only one generation away from dying if we didn't remember why we defend it in the first place and if we lost the will to defend it.
Keep your freedom, your family and your lifestyle as an American close to your heart so that we never forget what makes America great.
Blessings to you and yours, and God Bless America.
Best,
William Huff
http://www.shaolinsecrets.com
Bill@shaolinsecrets.com