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Who Are You?
"Who are you?" commanded the soldier.
"I am an Amer-I-CAN! Sir, yes, Sir!" replied the second graders of St. Anthony Catholic School.
For their stout, faithful, inspired participation, all those young Catholics were awarded badges of courage, loyalty, strength! They were given licenses to shoot communists and anyone who dare to say that he is an Amer-I-CAN'T. They were also given small, hand-held American flags, American flag stickers, American flag rulers to embolden and encourage their spirits.
"Who are you?"
"I am an Amer-I-Can! Sir, yes, Sir!"
"If I come back here tomorrow and ask you, 'Who are you?', what will you say?"
"I am an Amer-I-Can! Sir, yes, Sir!"
In the whole blur of childhood and any attempt at an education, this one moment stood out. Almost everything was true. Obviously, the part about the licenses to shoot the communists did not happen. But believe it or not, my second grade class was told that anyone who had an Amer-I-CAN'T attitude should be shot. He said that in America anything CAN happen and we CAN achieve anything. Anyone who didn't try and believe in success is not an I-Can person, he is an I-Can't person, and I-Can't people are not Amer-I-CANs.
That's why I am such an I-Can person. If my mother's work ethics didn't impress me, then that U.S soldier, from that moment in time, sure did. That soldier was probably just speaking from the heart, speaking from a source of pride and deep loyalty to his country.
We were in awe of the I-Can Man. We knew he was in war and killed lots of people. He probably rode in a tank. He probably just got back from war, where he killed lots of people, and he could kill us, too, if he found out that we were I-Can't people.
"I am an Amer-I-CAN! Sir, yes, Sir!" replied the second graders of St. Anthony Catholic School.
For their stout, faithful, inspired participation, all those young Catholics were awarded badges of courage, loyalty, strength! They were given licenses to shoot communists and anyone who dare to say that he is an Amer-I-CAN'T. They were also given small, hand-held American flags, American flag stickers, American flag rulers to embolden and encourage their spirits.
"Who are you?"
"I am an Amer-I-Can! Sir, yes, Sir!"
"If I come back here tomorrow and ask you, 'Who are you?', what will you say?"
"I am an Amer-I-Can! Sir, yes, Sir!"
In the whole blur of childhood and any attempt at an education, this one moment stood out. Almost everything was true. Obviously, the part about the licenses to shoot the communists did not happen. But believe it or not, my second grade class was told that anyone who had an Amer-I-CAN'T attitude should be shot. He said that in America anything CAN happen and we CAN achieve anything. Anyone who didn't try and believe in success is not an I-Can person, he is an I-Can't person, and I-Can't people are not Amer-I-CANs.
That's why I am such an I-Can person. If my mother's work ethics didn't impress me, then that U.S soldier, from that moment in time, sure did. That soldier was probably just speaking from the heart, speaking from a source of pride and deep loyalty to his country.
We were in awe of the I-Can Man. We knew he was in war and killed lots of people. He probably rode in a tank. He probably just got back from war, where he killed lots of people, and he could kill us, too, if he found out that we were I-Can't people.