What would you give up for Lent?

I've never participated in Lent, but if I have it right, you give up something very important to you for 40 days. If I was serious about it, what precious thing would I give up for 40 days? What is the most important thing in the world to me? I think I would give up reading. (Pleasure reading of course. There'd be no way to give up reading billboards while driving or recipies or things like that.)

What would you give up?

America

Something that bugs me is when people get angry at U.S. citizens when we introduce ourselves as Americans. For a long time I agreed with those random people and made a point of saying I was from the U.S. rather than that I was an American.

The arguments behind it is that America is made up of two continents, not just one country. People say it's arrogant and pretentious to call ourselves Americans when there are two continents full of people who are Americans. And, like I said, at first I could see their point, but then I began to disagree and here's why.

-We're the only country with America in our name. It's not the Canadian Territories of America. It's not Peruvian America. However it is The United States Of America. Which is quite a mouthful, leading me to my next point...

-Most people are lazy and are not going to always say The United States of America, so of course we need a shortening. A lot of people might ask at this point, "Why not say you're from The States?" An adequete shortening of the name, however, a shortening that might offend our neighbor to the south. The United Mexican States. (Estados Unidos Mexicanos) See, they actually have States in their name.

-Another suggestion people give is, why not say USA? I guess that's all right. I could say I'm a USA citizen, but it sounds a bit trite. Maybe I'm just making excuses now. However...

-...last of all. It's a nickname and it's probably here to stay.