America in a Box:

Back in December, I signed up for Reddit Gifts. As luck would have it, my first Secret Santa was a little prick and didn’t send me anything (jerk). But that’s besides the point. The point is that through some serendipitous stroke of providence, I learned what it was to be American from a package sent from a person I didn’t even know. Hear me out.

I was rematched with a mystery gifter living in Arizona. All they knew about me came from a form I filled out with my likes and interests. It was something like:

Travel Mexican Candy Reading Movies Board Games (These may or may not be in order of importance.)

Anyways, I didn’t really think much of it at the time, so a month goes by and I forget about the Secret Santa. I come into work today and lo and behold a mammoth box was sitting, waiting for me to open it. So I did.

It was filled with joy. To those unfamiliar with the term, that’s a ton of Mexican candy, frescas, salsas and even two board games about the American West. My first reaction was of pure motherfuckin’ glee! YAS. Spicy candy! All y’all haters don’t know the wonders of sugar, citric acid and chili!

Anyways, after the initial wave of happiness (and sugar + chili). I sat down and thought for a second. I know back home, everyone is dealing with problems of Trump, problems of hate, of race, of religion. But this box, I realized, this box proved that all that hate and vitrol that is being thrown around is because we’re trying to define what Americans are. Well, stop.

Look at this box. I’m Chinese, Cambodian, Thai, and who knows what else, but look at this box! It is full of my childhood. And my childhood was full of Mexican candy and the American West. My preschool was taught in Spanish. I learned my uno, dos, tres before my one, two threes. To be American is to understand that what defines you is not where you’re from; you are who you are and you are shaped by the beauty of the generosity of shared cultures. That’s what America is.

America is so hard to define because you can’t. And you shouldn’t. I am defined as much by my grandmother’s congee as I am by In-n-Out and spicy Mexican lollipops. All these cultures shaped who I am and who I am is all these cultures. We forget to realize that it was the American dream to create a place where everyone would be respected and heard.

Among all this turmoil, we’ve all developed a “me first” personality, but there is no me, because I am as much you as you are of me. That’s America in a box.

UPDATE: Original gifter just sent out a package! He/she isn't a jerk!