Loading ...you echo my sentiments exactly ,yet i was from the BEACH in the opposite side of the country (JERSEY SHORE) and that phrase has a special meaning for those from there. The Country has changed forever and not for the better as that sentiment uniquely American bred.
Was derived from immigrants that wanted to be solely American and not an American but something else too.
WE have had a few differences (feminism) which I find deplorable ,yet mostly we miss the same uniquely American experiences that was so Great about Americans .It wasent about where you were from ,but as my Grandfather said to his brothers when he came here in 1905 .”We are AMERICANS now” ,we speak English ,we serve in the American army and are loyal to the Country that welcomed us.
Most of my friends as a child were from Ireland,Germany, Italy and Poland yet we thought alike and that was saying something quite unique since I grew up during WW2 when all of us had distant relatives sometimes on opposite sides during the WAR ! Yet we all thought of ourselves as Americans. there is an American mentality that todays immigrants dont seem to share when they try to CHANGE us instead of their adopting the NEW Country they reside in.The BEACH looks the same ,the mentality has yet to integrate !