While the world is still suffering from the pandemic, the US has certainly experienced its fair share of turmoil.
Endeavoring to expose the beautiful side of American living, Redditor zztop610 asked:
"Dissing America is common on Reddit, but what are some of the good things of living in the US no one talks about?"
The impressive range in American topography got high marks.
The Beauty Of The Parks
"National parks!"
"Yosemite. Grand Canyon. Yellowstone. Many, many more!"
– CA_catwhispurr
Highlights
"Our National Parks, diversity of music, movies, geographical differences from state to state, and... fashion."
– invalidpassword
Camping Grounds
"Out west, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico there are millions of acres of public land where you can camp for free as long as you follow a few simple rules."
"The most important is moving about every two weeks. One summer I and 3 others camped from May 15 to November 15 in the White River forest while working on the chairlifts at the Vail ski area."
– MrKahnberg
America is apparently also known for having great accessibility to many types of destinations.
An Unspoken Convenience
"Freedom of movement. You can move thousands of miles in any direction and speak the same language, enjoy the same culture and shop at the same stores."
– Shitchewy
Accessible Beaches
"There's a large variety of places to live depending on what you want. If you want sun and beaches all year around, you got it. If you want snow a majority of the year, u got it. And if u want all 4 seasons, u got it."
– scarlettxchloe_luv
Accessible Sports Activity
"Its pretty cool that within a 30 min drive, I could go see: the MLB, the NBA, CFB, the NFL, the NHL, the MLS, or (god help me) a NASCAR race."
– dowhatchafeel
Culturally Enhanced
"Definitely diversity. I've lived in 4 continents and traveled ~55 countries. The U.S. is by far the most diverse when it comes to people, job opportunities, geography, businesses, entertainment, food, lifestyles, etc."
– YouKnowLife
American hospitality gets a mention here.
Car Problems? No Problem
"A lot of places are extremely hospitable. In the south your car breaks down there's a good chance someone will give your a ride and their cousin owns a town truck if the truck they're driving can't tow your car by itself."
– Zkenny13
Niceness
"Americans are so nice on average that our stereotype of the Midwest is that they're aggressively nice to the point of it circling around to being menacing"
"That and the diversity, NYC, and Queens in particular is, IIRC the single most linguistically dense polity on the face of the earth, with over 400 natively spoken languages"
– Cxilando_Vilandas
Service With A Smile
"As a non-American, you guys are winning at Customer Service. Everyone is friendly and greets you as you go into a store. In my country they barely look up from their phones, grunt and ignore people clearly waiting to be served."
– U16341
I still believe in America.
I was in New York City the morning the two planes hit the Twin Towers on the horrific date in 2001. Days, weeks, and the months following the historical tragedy, New Yorkers seemed kinder, more thoughtful, and attentive to each other.
On multiple occasions, I saw strangers from all walks of life consoling one another in public. It's unfortunate how a tragedy forced people to realize how precious and fleeting life is and open their eyes to the pain of others.
But it revealed the capability we all possess to be more compassionate.
We all have it in ourselves to manifest positivity and inspire goodness in others, to help their dispirited neighbor up, dust them off, and encourage them to go on and believing that—while emotional healing takes time—Americans can come back from adversity when we all have each others' backs.
That notion was the "American Dream," I believe my father pursued when he emigrated from Japan.
