What is your “American experience”? Good, bad, weird? And what has informed that view?

25 comments

  1. I can’t mail-order an M2 to my house out the back of a catalog like it’s1933, so not as good as it could be.

  2. How does one break down an entire human experience in a reddit comment?

    I’m good in general I guess if Eduardo Rodriguez could stop getting shelled here in the top of the 2nd. Smh.

    Oh. And I got Wordle in 3 today. So I got that going for me.

    Edit: won in a walk-off in the 9th. My mood has improved immensely.

  3. I guess I grew up with hard working, depression era parents. The did everything they were supposed to do. War veteran, didn’t drink, worked hard and more than one job, never took a vacation.

    Died penniless after losing everything to medical bills.

    Also, me working in a rooming house cleaning toilets and meeting and getting to know the residents — I saw how hard you can work but if you are dealt some shitty cards you are never getting ahead, only further and further behind. Poor parental support, foster care, lower than average IQ, a physical ailment, or poor mental health can mean a lifetime of eating cold spaghettios because you arent allowed a microwave or hot plate in your room.

    I know a lot of rich people that never worked particularly hard, but because of support are doing pretty great — they think they did it all themselves.

  6. High school – pretty good

    College – great

    Wife – still here after 44 years

    Kids – survived, making bank

    Jobs – banking, rural mail carrier, farm laborer, 3 years construction laborer, 30 years contractor

    Retirement – I like it so far

    Overall – two thumbs up Roger Ebert style

  7. Not bad. I think everyone thinks of how much better things can be but don’t consider how much worse things can be.

    Right now I’m basically glad I’m not Ukrainian because of the war, Russian because they are basically fucked for a generation, or Chinese because dealing with Covid here was depressing enough but hearing about the stuff happening in Shanghai is a whole other level of crazy.

    We’re living through a time of existential crises that I feel America is better prepared to weather than a lot of other countries.

  8. To date no one has ever guessed my heritage correctly, grew up middle class for the country, but better than most in those areas I lived. My family doesn’t have a single spot we congregate at. I almost failed out of college the first time. I then moved to another continent without knowing the language. Then I went from living out of a suitcase to owning a home in less than a year when I moved back stateside.

    Nothing about my “American experience” has been anything but weird.

  9. I feel very fortunate to have been born in this country. We certainly have our challenges – and our own unique strengths and weaknesses compared to other nations – but the average American today still leads a
    more comfortable existence than the great majority of people who have ever lived.

  10. Kind of weird.

    My job path has not been regular. Biomedical research, law school, law, insurance, a brief stint in sales. My wife’s a professor.

    We have moved all over the country.

    We have a house and two wonderful children if we could get the little guy to sleep through the damn night.

    I have an awesome extended family that stays in touch and has done well for themselves. All my aunts and uncles get along. All my cousins get along.

    I love where I live and there’s good people and good schools here.

    I don’t have much to complain about.

  11. I’m just shy of halfway through my life’s mission to unify America from the North Pole to the Florida Keys. My American experience has been good, bad, and weird. But always sprinkled with conviction, unusual opportunities, spontaneity, and an ineffable powerful atmosphere. It’s probably similar to what being in Rome was like during the height of the Roman Empire. Whenever I’ve crossed that imaginary line I’ve always had something unexpected happen, some weird encounter – but always felt a spirit that I just cant describe. It is like a spirit that screams anything is possible. There’s just a vibe and an atmosphere that is different. I’m quite thrilled to one day participate in any way I can to expand that.

    I guess my view is shaped by study and anecdotes. I strongly believe that my country has been artificially torn from its greater half, and it is something you can feel when you come here.

  12. I wish I could travel back in time to my high school days. Not too far that I wouldn’t have gotten my dog, but I wished I did a lot of stuff differently is all.

  13. You’re going to have to be a lot more specific. I would define my “American experience” is my lifetime. Fortunate enough to have been born here and led a reasonable comfortable existence, I’ve never gone without.

  14. I have all that I need, some of what I want, and a pile of guns and ammo. Two thumbs up.

  15. Work hard. Sacrifice. Lose out on thjngs to people with more money and connections. Try harder. Succeed a bit more. Get knocked down. Get up. Try again.

  16. I guess I had a pretty average American experience. Got good grades in a good high school. Went to college. Partied a bit to hard and came home. Found a job, loved the job and then decided to go to school to get more education in my job. Along the way I bought a house, I have a few dogs, good friends, happy and active social life. I can afford to live my life, and travel each year.

  17. I’ve had a bit of a rocky road but none of the negatives were intrinsically tied to being American. My childhood and adolescence were great, then I spent my 20s working in a career that wasn’t right for me and that I progressively grew to hate. Married the wrong person who saw marriage as an experiment rather than a commitment and abruptly dropped me for greener pastures. Since then I’ve changed careers to one that is fulfilling and interesting and I’ve found the love of my life who I will marry soon. So things are better than ever.

    I think my experience so far is one of optimism. Things get really bad but they get really good too. You just have to keep working towards the good parts.

  18. I was born in Italy to a dad in the military and an Italian Mom, lived in basically little America in Italy. Americanized. Dad got out of the military moved back to US.

    I lived with my Nonno for 6 monthes with my Mom and siblings while my Dad was in the US trying to get a job and get things situated while we were in Italy. When you’re 9 you don’t realize your family is poor when you are bunking in your uncles nice house for 3 monthes and renting out his way smaller second house so my dad could build credit to buy a home. My Dad drove a beat up car but eventually got a good gig at a Government job and has 2 cars use to be 3 and a house to his name. Granted he’s also retired Military but my Mother was a full time parent and homemaker

    Was put in ESL even though I could speak English and the teacher was confused why I was there. Middle school and then highschool. Saving money working probably gonna go into manufacturing my Uncle works at and he does inspection but I would probably go into a different department.

    want to move out by the end of the year so shouldn’t be hard.

  19. I had a really good childhood I think. I was born in the 90s and my older brothers and I were close in age.

    We lived in a nice sized house in a comfortable suburb. Lots of middle management and tradesmen types in the community.

    Got to go to a really good high school with lots of opportunities for kids or all income levels. By that point my parents had separated and my mom was diagnosed with cancer… Soon after her diagnosis she was laid off from her barely minimum wage job.

    I became extremely angry with the medical system. There’s definitely something to be said about personal experiences with certain aspects of American life, and why people feel so strongly about them. Having insecure medical insurance on and off while undergoing cancer treatments is just a high degree of fucked.

    During this time I was supporting myself and going to school full-time while also helping my mom financially as best I could. Things did get better after a few years. But that experience so early on in life (I was about 17-20 for the duration of her cancer diagnosis and treatments) made me more aware than I would be otherwise. And just mad, knowing all the propaganda I was fed as a child was a complete lie.

    “If you’re ill and unemployed here, good fucking luck” should really be America’s tagline.

    I will say, there are lots of different paths you can take here as a young person. I took a more corporate route and got a master’s degree, my one brother has worked in the service industry since high school and does well for himself and the other one makes movies and also does alright. So I will say that. You can make what you want of it so to speak.

    But when it comes to taking care of vulnerable people, basically if no one in your family has the means/ability to help you, you’re in real trouble.

  22. Pretty good all things considered. My childhood was pretty good, and currently I’m 19 with a job that offers reasonable pay and benefits. Besides things that effect everyone like housing prices and inflation, I can’t complain about much.

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