The American Experience

I’ve been mostly enjoying some down time with the family in Orlando this past week. Why do I say mostly? It has nothing to do with the family, the accommodations, the itinerary (we’ve actually decided to be here without doing theme parks), or the weather. It’s work finding a way to creep into my life. Honestly, though, that was unintentional, and a little bit on me. Whatever, it’s not going to spoil my experience.

We’ve spent most of the week at the resort doing next to nothing. Kim and I get out by the pool by 8 AM and spend time enjoying the sunshine and a little time for the two of us before the place starts to really start buzzing. I usually go back to the room and wake the kids by 9:30 to end that period of quiet. We enjoy the warmth, the sunshine, and the pool that we don’t have to maintain. We often come in between 1 – 2 PM and kind of reorganize for the day; if it’s raining, we’ll take naps, or I’ll sit and write blogs while everyone goes about their own business. (We also have taken naps on a sunny afternoon or two. That’s the beauty of not having an itinerary for a vacation.) At night, we’ve gone out for a sit-down dinner; we’ve done Puerto Rican and Indian cuisine, and Elle’s hoping we’ll get down to Universal’s City Walk for some Jamaican at “Bob Marley – A Tribute to Freedom.” It’s been a nice unwind after a very intense first half of 2026.

Of course, the week we come down here to enjoy the heat and sunshine, the same weather visits Western New York, too. Regardless of the weather, we’re away and getting time to not be “on” 24/7. Ultimately, that’s the important part of all of this; it’s so you can be whole and present when it’s back to the grind.

I’ve had more time to scroll through my social media timelines this week while sitting poolside. It always keeps me amused, if nothing else. I was very locked in Wednesday afternoon, in particular; July 1st is the beginning of free agency in the NBA and NHL, and of course, that night, the US Men’s National Soccer Team beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1st round of the knockout stages in the World Cup, which our nation is the major host of this cycle. (78 of the 104 games, or 75%, are being played in American stadiums, with Canada and Mexico splitting the rest of them.) And, of course, there’s a lot of hubbub about the 250th anniversary of the creation of the United States, itself.

I’ve been out of the loop of a lot of it, but it’s all been enjoyable to watch from a distance.

Let’s start back home in Western New York.

This week’s local outrage has been the announcement that the City of Buffalo is not putting on an Independence Day fireworks display downtown. The city’s mayor, Sean Ryan, went on the record about a month ago stating that there would be a show for the 4th; the city has not put on a fireworks display downtown in ages, and Ryan was hoping to make the nation’s 250th birthday a special one in the city, and even said, “events like these are important.” On June 30th, it was confirmed that the city’s show was a no-go.

Immediately, people jumped all over it. The mayor’s press office started things off in the usual bang-up fashion of a cover-up; they had no one available to answer questions when the news came out, and instead tried to float out a statement that read in part, “An appropriate site could not be identified that would provide a safe and widely accessible viewing experience for residents.” This statement, of course, comes off as nonsense. There are fireworks at the annual First Night celebration at the Electric Tower downtown, and there are displays in a bunch of other locations in the city throughout the year. None of those displays would compare to the size and scope of what people would expect for an America 250 display, but it probably could be figured out.

People found an easy target of anger towards the city having a commemoration of Somali Independence Day on July 1st downtown by raising the Somalian flag in Niagara Square, which is where City Hall sits. The modern-day state of Somalia was created on July 1, 1960. There is a community of Somails living in Western New York, with a lot of them being refugees that have settled on Buffalo’s West Side.

It turns out it was a ceremony put together by a Common Council member. I would not label it an event. Look at the press photo:

This looks like they pulled everyone off of the Metro Rail at the Fountain Plaza stop, walked them down Court Street, and had them hold up the flag so they could snap a photo.

Nonetheless, people responded with their usual lack of restraint and labeled the entire thing un-American. Buffalo was not the only city that took shots about this; some media outlets cited the city as part of a nationwide effort by cities to thumb their nose at the American holiday. Overnight, someone took down the Somali flag and left with it, just to add to the whole issue.

By the night of the 1st, Mayor Ryan changed course on the way they were doing damage control. Ryan got out in front of having people believe that it was a financial issue – like many upstate cities, the City of Buffalo is having fiscal problems – explaining that restaurateur / philanthropist Russell Salvatore had offered to pay for the display. The issue was that the fireworks vendor had concerns about launching the fireworks from the location they had considered at Niagara Square, worrying that the canisters may accidentally start a fire elsewhere as they came down. Salvatore, meanwhile, announced he was using the fireworks to put on a display at his own Patriots and Heroes Park on Transit Road in Williamsville.

This all ends up being pretty ridiculous, when you put it all together. Point-by-point:

The fireworks aren’t happening because of an anti-American streak; it’s because people get caught up in bureaucratic processes, and if there’s anything more American than watching the government gum up the works, I’m unsure of what that is. It sounds like the city didn’t really put a lot of thought into how to go about this until a few weeks ago, and by then, it’s too late. The Olean fireworks display is sorted out months in advance, and it’s been going on for years; having a municipality (especially one of America’s 100 largest cities) start up a new fireworks display takes coordination, and despite having four deputy mayors, it looks like the City of Buffalo is struggling with that.
People often screw things up, and even though it’s frustrating, it’s common.
There is already a fireworks display on July 4th in downtown Buffalo being put on at Sahlen Field after a night of glow-in-the-dark baseball – and that, itself, is a big part of the problem. If you’ve ever been downtown on a night where there’s an event going on at both Key Bank Center and Sahlen Field, you recognize that it’s a mess down there. Parking fills up hours in advance, and the lots gouge the visitors; when it’s time to leave, it’s nothing but gridlock.
I didn’t recognize this at first, but there’s another problem with Canalside… the World’s Largest Rubber Duck is there this weekend! That has the potential to be a hilarious moment, but would probably also be the end of anyone bringing something interesting to the waterfront.
This would all be a lot easier if we still had the Friendship Festival in the area, which was always held at the beginning of July to celebrate our relationship with our friends across the river in Canada, whose independence day is… July 1st. Eeek. Looks like we might have forgotten our dear neighbor’s birthday in the process, too.
Also, congratulations to the person or people that took the flag down and damaged the pole. Even if it isn’t considered some politically-motivated or bigoted stunt, they still damaged government property. There are cameras everywhere in modern America, and it’s pretty likely they’ll get caught for this; doing something like this labels you with some unpleasant titles by a large swath of the population.
I saw someone make a very relevant comment – to paraphrase it, the people that are having the biggest issue with how the city fireworks debacle has played out probably live in some place like Strykersville or Gasport and were never going to the city to watch the display there, anyway. This is just an opportunity to get worked up about something that ultimately doesn’t affect them.
There are a total of 24 fireworks displays in Western New York on the 4th alone, including a “private event” in Hamburg. My mind has been wondering – how can any fireworks display ever be a truly private event?
The display at Patriots and Heroes Park is a wild idea in itself. If you know the location of the place, it is a busy spot. Transit itself is enough of a headache to navigate, and the park sits right across from the access road for the Thruway exit. It also sits near Buffalo Niagara International Airport, and, like I said, I-90 – one of the biggest travel corridors in the Northeast. I know that Russ is used to doing stuff like this, so I’m sure that this has been planned out properly, and that safety will probably not be an issue. However, I don’t think that’s the dream location for a fireworks display of significant size, either.
Finally, while looking at a description of Patriots and Heroes Park, I noticed that Russ has his mausoleum there. Given his reputation, that is mostly unsurprising. After all, he has provided for us by displaying this painting so we can meditate on it during those rare quiet moments in life.

At this point, I’m starting to go down a rabbit hole of insanity. Let’s move forward.

The World Cup has been a wonderfully American experience for everyone involved. People from all over the globe have come to the country and been surprised about what American culture is really like. This is not a political statement, but a reality – our country’s leaders have not done very good PR for the nation as a whole for a long time now. Our media, both social and widespread, doesn’t help things either. We as a nation and people have a tendency to be deficit-based; it’s easier to point out what is wrong rather than emphasizing what is going well, and that’s what many people in the world see coming out of our nation.

The foreign fans that have shown up in this country to cheer on our teams have found a much different reality compared to what the perception of the country is. Social media has been filled with foreigners raving about how much they’ve enjoyed the American experience.

First of all, they’ve found us to be a very hospitable citizenry, and they’re absolutely right about that. I don’t think people recognize this because we live with each other every day, but as a people we are a very kind and generous population. We have been welcoming to a fault, and the visitors are extremely appreciative of it; there are so many posts on social media from foreign people here for the World Cup just raving about how much they’ve enjoyed themselves because people are nice to them.

Also, they rave about all the fun of American culture. The United States is not one culture alone; it has not been that way in over 200 years, and as time goes on, it only becomes more varied and rich. These tourists are finding out the way we blend a little bit of everyone’s background into our whole experience. One fun subset of videos is that foreigners are getting a chance to discover our food culture. For one, it’s Japanese and Korean fans getting their first opportunity to sample barbeque. Barbeque is a truly North American experience, as its roots go back to the Spanish explorers enjoying feasts with indigenous North Americans (I’m assuming the smallpox blankets were the housewarming gifts). Of course, we continually put our own spin on it, and the different ways we choose to season it, as well as what we choose to barbecue, continues to evolve. I also love people marveling at the concept of free drink refills or complimentary nachos at the table; it is an absolutely mind-blowing idea to them, and they get excited about it. And, of course, nothing is more American than offering portions that make their meals look like snacks.

They also marvel at a ton of the other things we do. They think it’s amazing that different parts of the country have extremely distinct cultures. They’re also shocked about how massive the nation really is; for instance, driving from Times Square to Canalside in Buffalo is a 374-mile and six-hour drive, all staying within one state, and at that, the 30th biggest state in size in this country; that closely compares with the drive between Frankfurt and Paris, two distinctly different cities in different nations. They love the wild attractions all over our country that we giggle about. They are amazed that we have virtually every imaginable type of climate and geography across the mainland, and a lot of people have particularly been shocked by the combination of heat and humidity in Texas.

Another thing that has been surprising, especially for Europeans, is the patriotism in this nation. I think that other countries can see it as jingoism, but there are many making their first trip here that are experiencing it for what it was initially intended to be before politicians ruined it – pride in our country and our badge of honor. I think they also see that we recognize that things aren’t perfect, but that we’re willing to keep working away at it until we get it right. The stance about our culture has softened for many of the visitors; there are a ton of posts out there that highlight the impressive display our country has put on.

Of course, part of our multiculturalism is these fans bringing their culture to our cities. Boston is now unintentionally a dry town, thanks to the Scots. The Japanese bring bags to games to clean up the stadium after the final whistle, which is rough on the janitorial job market but extremely cool to see. There are few instances of problems, and a lot of pride being shown; a really cool display in this nation as a whole.

A side note is that the Europeans and Latin Americans are finding that we actually enjoy soccer in this country now. In 1994, the World Cup was a novelty of sorts for us; FIFA knew what they were doing by having it here at that time, because it began to pique people’s curiosity in the sport. We’ve evolved greatly in our interest in soccer since then. MLS has become a thing in this country, and they’ve been wise enough with the league to figure out financial tricks that allow some global icons in the sport to play in this country (ie David Beckham and Lionel Messi, to name a couple). I’m sure many of you know who Messi and Christiano Ronaldo are, and that Christian Pulisic is a familiar name on the US Men’s National Team. Kids that used to wear only basketball and football jerseys wear kits of the big names in the sport; there are bars across the country that cater to fans of specific teams, similar to the Bills Backers bars that pop up all over the place; and both the EUFA Champions League and English Premier League are on basic cable and streaming services.

We’re far from a global power in the sport yet; our best athletes play other sports. (Our teams would look a lot different with LeBron, Steph Curry, and Josh Allen on the field.) However, our players are more competitive than ever. Every single player on the USMNT plays in the top division in their respective countries, including seeing many of them play in the European leagues, which have much more talent than we see in MLS. I don’t anticipate this country becoming a global power in the sport any time in the near future, but we’ve started figuring it out.

The foreign fans, and in particular the fans in Latin America and some European countries, are much wilder than anyone in this country about almost any sport. Some parts of the media acted like New York was a hellscape after the Knicks won the NBA title a few weeks ago; meanwhile, four people died in Mexico City after their win over Ecuador in the Round of 32. To provide an equivalency in American sports, imagine the same number of people dying if UCLA made the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament; if Mexico beats England in the next round, God help everyone living there. (For that matter, if Montreal or Vancouver win a Stanley Cup in the future, it will be wilder than anything we’ve seen here.)

All of this comes back to the beauty of this country. Letting work creep into our lives. Ineptitude in government. Useless outrage over some menial thing that ultimately doesn’t affect our lives. People finding ways to blur the line between altruism and self-promotion. Hospitality and friendliness. Doing everything bigger than anyone else, including shutting down one of the busiest places on Earth to create an indoor garden in the middle of a concrete jungle for your wedding. Complaining about a splash pad still under construction not being open to the public for the warm weather. Acting turned off and wary by new ideas, only to end up fully embracing them over time. People bringing their own culture to this country while finding ways to enjoy what’s already here. Even being un-American is a very American thing, too. And, ultimately, it’s patriotism, even if you’re being told by the people with the loudest voices out there that things are awful.

Things are far from perfect in America, and there will always be room for improvement, but that’s no different than us as humans, either. As brilliant as many of the founding fathers were in their work to set up the Constitution and Bill of Rights, some of their ideas and lifestyle choices seem awful today; it’s not because they were a bunch of awful human beings. (Truthfully, some were, though. As the saying goes, you can find yourself agreeing with the worst person you know.) It’s because we actually are willing to take a critical eye at what we do and see if we can figure out how to do it better, even if it takes the country decades of half-measures and mistakes to get there. Despite what many of us are told by the forces out there, it’s okay to disagree with someone politically; after all, our current political system works at dividing us over relatively petty things, including several stances that never have an effect on our day-to-day lives. Most people have a reason for their beliefs, and ultimately, if it’s something divisive that defines who they are, they’re probably going to find a way to alienate themselves from even those they agree with on many of those stances. People have massively different lifestyles and practices, often depending upon where we live and what we do; however, we get unified over the shared experience of being able to figure out who we are as a person, mostly on our own terms.

You have to admit, it’s a unique experience. Even if many people feel things aren’t going well for them, it’s still a fascinating moment in time to be alive.