back me up?

Problems with dating a Canadian: they're deeply jealous of their neighbors to the south, and so, due to reaction-formation (holla, Freud) (double holla, AP Psych) (is 'double holla' a thing?) (whoa there parentheticals), do a lot of hating on the US of A.

I got in an argument today.

And so, I have compiled a list of good things about America.

1. Americans are really friendly. In the summer of 2007, I went to Chicago with my parents. One night while my dad was at a dinner or a meeting or something (we were there for "work"), Mom and I went to explore Michigan Ave, shop, eat, do tourist things, et cetera. We literally somehow managed to strike up conversation with a stranger on a street corner, and she ended up GIVING us a POLAROID that she had taken of one of her favorite restaurants. Which was great, for the record. That doesn't happen in other places.
2. America is huge. So we have a lot of climates. Are there beaches in Canada? Okay, maybe. But are they nice? No.
3. Also, America is huge, so we have a lot of cultures. Being in New England and being in Mississippi and being in Los Angeles are not the same thing. And there are about a thousand places in between.
4. We're remarkably entrepreneurial. Bill Gates couldn't happen anywhere else. Neither could Google. Neither could Barack Obama.
5. I'm under the impression that we basically invented the middle class. Which is pretty cool.
6. We definitely invented suburbia (oh hey, Levittown). And usually I'm not a fan of sprawling nothingness, but I can explain why it could be considered a good thing: People who don't make a huge amount of money can have really nice houses. What I'm really trying to say, is that in America, you don't have to be wealthy to have a great life. And I feel like part of that phenomenon is due to the rise of suburbs.
7. We also invented the Bill of Rights. And while I'm still not a huge fan of bearing arms, freedom of religion is pretty sweet. Switzerland could have uses some of that a few months back, when the ban on minarets was voted-on. I'd like to believe such a resolution would never pass in America, although I can't be sure.
8. We have Michael Phelps.
9. We, collectively, really love our country.
10. I think the Revolutionary War was pretty badass. Also, I think the actual Boston Tea Party is something we should model our lives after (although, these people who would say they agree with me, are completely missing the point and need to suck it up. They are represented in Congress [unfortunately, but that's our awesome government that gives everyone a voice]. The colonists weren't bitching because they didn't get their way.) (Oh wait but some state did right before the Civil war.... Hey Tea Parties! Secede! I won't mind!) [Note: I don't actually think that's a good idea. Just clarifying.]
11. Our economy keeps everyone else's economies going. If we disappeared... that's a huge market, gone.
12. Hollywood is ours.
13. Americans are innovative.
14. Yeah we're fat... but... we don't smoke? Literally there's a direct inverse proportion between our smoking over time and our obesity over time. So, rock on for that.
15. Star Spangled Banner, apple pie, all of the cliches that we've grown to love.
16. We had a lot of wilderness that had yet to be explored.

Do you think I meant country matters?

I sat at Starbucks for two hours this afternoon finishing a math exam.

Then I watched Skins.

Love always,
Clara