Column: These visitors' viral World Cup videos are showing what really makes America great
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There’s the Scottish soccer fan who marveled at our wildly varied landscape and welcoming communities as he walked from L.A.to Boston, arriving in time to see Scotland play Haiti on Saturday.
There’s the German traveling in the opposite direction from Atlanta who could not get over the wonders of the hospitable South, from Stone Mountain to Buc-ees.There’s the Swede promoting the power of ranch dressing, the Italians marveling at fountain drinks with ice and free refills, the English rhapsodizing over chicken parm and just about everyone shouting out the friendliness of the businesses that served them.
Even the “beauty” of American trucks, big yellow school buses and eight-lane freeways have gotten their fair share of shout-outs.Just in time for the semiquincentennial, the churning waves of social media discontent have parted and given us a glimpse of how these United States look (and taste) to wide-eyed World Cup attendees.And it is glorious.Also a welcome relief.
Our stint as a World Cup host has not, you will surely be shocked to hear, been without controversy.President Trump is on record insulting many of the countries participating in the games.
His aggressive immigration and tariff policies, general and continual dismissal of NATO and, especially, his decision to join Israel in a war against Iran prompted many calls to boycott this year’s tournament, which the U.S.is co-hosting with Mexico and Canada.
As recently as last month, the combination of these concerns, as well as high ticket prices, were being blamed for the many unbooked hotel rooms and unclaimed seats in various host cities.Then there were warnings about the American summer heat and complaints about the adoption of hydration breaks and the four-quarter system, as well as the fact that many of the stadiums were miles away from city centers.“Don’t try to walk to MetLife stadium!” became a pop...