Not Just Double Meat

They might know more than you think the next time you order pizza...

I Hereby Declare...

Today was the day...

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

(I really like that part about defending the laws and the Constitution against all enemies, foreign AND domestic, and I must say that this statement alone is what allowed me to get over my conscience when deciding whether I should have given this step or not. The road is long, but I certainly hope I can change things.)

So there it is, I am now an American citizen, I had my swearing-in ceremony today at a San Antonio middle school. It was witnessed by nearly 300 8th graders and presided by a local judge. Even the Daughters of the American Revolution showed up, and were nice enough to give us little lapel pins with the American flag. I was proud and happy, but could not help by laughing when I turned my lapel pin arond and read the inscription in the back: "MADE IN CHINA". Need I say more? I almost wanted to run out of there to exchange "all my dollars" (like $30) for Euros before our country goes bankrupt. Think about it. When the trade deficit is large enough and the market allows the Daughters of the American Revolution to purchase lapel pins with the American flag to be distributed to new citizens, and the pins are Made in China, you know something is going wrong. My amusement didn't end there. I really enjoyed the part where the Mariachi group walked inside the Library of Ed White Middle School to make our evening more pleasant as we celebrated with school officials our newly gained citizenship. This country is really diverse, and I love it, but...Mariachis for a citizenship ceremony? Heck, it was fun, and I knew the lyrics to every song they played, I just thought they would have hired Kenny Rogers? hehehehehe....

Either way, The school principal said something I really enjoyed: "It's good to be an American, it is better to Become one".

I was talked out of wearing my bright green "Bush Step Down" sticker until I walked out of there : )