6+ People America Should Thank Today (Besides Troops)

By

The fourth of July is here again. We’ve all survived the weeklong onslaught of fireworks in our neighborhoods. Good for us! This morning I woke up early despite having been drunk last night because I don’t have to work today (AMERICA!!). I turned on my computer and saw my Facebook feed littered with blind patriotism and that ol’ chestnut, “thank you to all the troops for allowing us to celebrate on this day”.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for supporting the armed services, but let’s not shit ourselves here; the troops don’t make this country run all by themselves. So, in honor of everybody that helps make this country run, I want to thank a few people.

Religious people who don’t talk about being religious

Thank you to the people that know that there is a time and a place to force your religion on people and that’s called church (or temple, or mosque, etc.). Thanks to those who don’t feel compelled to go door-to-door spreading the good word with a plastic smile on their face. Thank you for knowing that unless a person has been a shut in their entire life, people know about their religious options and will make that decision for themselves when the time comes.

Selfless parents and non-bratty kids

Thank you to the parents who work two or three jobs, not because they want to or they need extra cash to buy booze, but because they want their kids to have better lives than they had. And thank you to the kids of parents who work two or three jobs who are appreciative of their parent’s sacrifices and try hard to be the best that they can be.

Canadians

Thank you to Canadians! That’s right, I said it. If you live in a state that borders Canada like I do, you are all too familiar with the weekend influx of Canadians. They come here weekly to spend money that wasn’t earned in our country and help boost an economy that isn’t theirs. They pay our sales taxes and apply for credit cards that they only use in America. Thank you for helping us out of the hole we have dug ourselves into and I hope you continue to do so.

LGBT community

A big thanks to friends of and members of the LGBT community. You are fighting one of the hardest civil rights battles our country has ever seen right now. In a time where people are pushing religious agenda into a government that was built on the exact opposite, you are persevering and making headway. I know that the battles you fight today will give our country a better tomorrow and for that I thank you.

Recent college graduates

Thank you to the recent college graduates who will struggle to find jobs in our weak job market but still push on. Your dreams are what this country is made of. It will be hard when a company expects you to have experience in things that you weren’t taught in school. Thank you to those who read want ads and adjust your skill set accordingly. You are the ones who are going to make it come hell or high water and that’s the spirit that helped make this country great.

Immigrants

Thanks to immigrants who come to the country and go through the long, arduous process of becoming full-fledged citizens. You will work hard and do the jobs that most Americans wouldn’t do because you know that America is still a land of opportunity as long as you are willing to work for what you have. Some of us millennials could learn a thing or two from you.

There are so many other people in America that deserve thanks. Police officers who understand youthful indiscretion, anybody who works in the food service industry because working with and for people who think they deserve the best but treat you like the worst is very hard. Teachers who actually enjoy their jobs and hospital administrators who are willing to work with people when they can’t afford the treatment they need to stay alive. People who know when a conversation is over and instead of trying to pump life back into it they let it end.

And, of course, thank you to every American that has ever lived or ever will live. You are part of a legacy that, for better or worse, will stand tall. Someday, tens of thousands of years from now, people will dig up the crumbled remains of America and wonder who we were, how we lived, what kind of people we were. it’s up to us today to help them see the good in all of us. Let’s start by simply thanking one another, not for anything specific necessarily. Just to say thanks.

You should like Thought Catalog on Facebook here.

image –Larry Lamsa