Chills and a sense of pride

Yesterday my former ASU marketing professor, Dr. Beth Walker (who is now the dean of the MBA program at the W.P. Carey School of Business) took me to the Spirit of Enterprise luncheon as her guest at the Biltmore.

The event honors entrepreneurs and small time business owners.

They began the ceremony with someone singing "God Bless the U.S.A". That song always gives me goose bumps!

My dad loved that song, so 1) it reminds me of him and his journey from Thailand to America to pursue his Masters degree in architecture and 2) it reminds me of every time I go through customs and they say "Welcome back to the USA."

I am not overly patriotic, but it does send a jolt of pride when I get in line behind the sign that says "Citizen". I have a lot of foreign friends and they often complain about the US and all its faults and the agonizing process of entering the US for extended periods without a VISA or Greencard.

And I agree America is far from perfect, and I am not one to think that this is the only place to live, but I have done a fair amount of traveling to both really nice countries and to some places that still operate in "third world states". And at the end of the day I am glad I live here and I feel honored and blessed by all that this country affords me. And no matter what "I LOVE THIS LAND, God Bless the USA"