27th Sep 2003
They Should Teach Us Soccer
I just glanced at a headline on CNN.Com:
“U.S. troops teach Iraqi kids American football”
Somehow, this is backwards. It should be the Iraqi kids that teach the U.S. troops Soccer! The thought of us imposing Americanisms into a country that is very leery of us strikes me as wrong. Even if it’s something so seemingly innocent as American-style football.
Soccer is THE worldwide sport. The subtle point to be made is that even at the level of interacting with local kids, we should be showing a little bit of international flair. The kids aren’t necessarily going to understand the difference, but I can picture Iraqi adults rolling their eyes over this. It’s a bit like setting up McDonald’s tents, or some other form of “in your face Americana”.
I could be wrong on this. Perhaps I should have a Coke and a Smile?
Like the poster, I just glanced at the headline…
I don’t think there is anything to be worried about here. I’m certain the troops didn’t hold a mandatory “American Football Meeting” for the whole town. In all likelihood, the kids were dying to here about American football and the troops were nice enough to oblige. This is not to imply that that the poster feels like this… but there is too much self-loathing among Americans. Just because people choose to do a particular thing our way, doesn’t mean it was crammed down their throats. No one forced Russians to line up for 3 miles to get a McDonald’s hamburger.