Several Comments on American Subjects for Our Recent World Cup Visitors

This Christian blog is ακωλυτως (unhindered, Acts 28:31) and can speak on any subject, even seemingly totally secular things. As Christians, we are often told by our Christian leaders that we should be in the world but not of the world. Being in the world means that we can have and express opinions on secular subjects.

To a Christian, everything belongs to the Lord. He cannot be restricted. He is lord over everything or he is lord over nothing. There is a saying that your God is too small. God is not small.

Here are a few American things which may need a brief explanation: ranch dressing, barbecue, yellow school buses, mailbox flags, Chick-fil-A, food combinations, air conditioning, gun ownership, biscuits and gravy, lack of mass transport, giant megastores, the fifty states, and American Party Cups.

Ranch Dressing: Our World Cup visitors fell in love with ranch dressing. It is a favorite of many Americans. The main caveat with this dressing is that it is dairy-based, created using buttermilk or sour cream, so those with lactose-intolerance need to take notice. It also contains eggs, so those with egg allergies need to be aware.

Ranch dressing is not readily available in countries other than the United States for several reasons, one being that it is not a traditional food item in those countries. Another reason is some of the dressing’s ingredients.

Titanium dioxide is a whitening agent banned by the European Union. Other EU-banned or restricted ingredients in ranch dressing include some synthetic stabilizers and antioxidant preservatives used to prolong shelf-life.

The European Union also bans recombinant bovine somatotropin growth hormones, which are often present in U.S. dairy products.

Barbecue: We are very proud of our barbecue (BBQ), with each region insisting that their particular BBQ tradition is the best. There is a great variation in the woods which are used used for smoking the meat and in the sauces. Some traditions do not use sauces at all. They may use dry rubs on the meat or no covering at all, relying instead on flavoring from the smoke from the burning wood.

The sauces may be based on tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or molasses, mustard, mayonnaise, apple cider, soy sauce, mirin, ginger, hot peppers, peaches or other fruits, vegetable broths, honey, tahini, coffee, horseradish, gochujang, hot spices, syrups, alcoholic beverages, onions, or meat (beef, ham, chicken, or fish) drippings. Some even make vegan sauces. Everyone is convinced that their BBQ is the best and sauce recipes are often very closely guarded.

There are highly competitive regional and national barbecue competitions. 

Yellow School Buses: The school buses seemed to be fascinating to many of our visitors. To us, they are nothing special. Most of us have ridden in them. Here is some information about them:

1. The U.S. is quite large and many students live many miles away from their schools, especially for schools which serve an entire county. For many, it is impractical or even dangerous to walk or bicycle to their school.

2. The yellow color is intended to be distinctive.

3. Traffic is required by law to stop in both directions when a school bus stops to pick up or deliver students. No one wants to hit a child with their car.

4. Many parents must arrive at work during the hours of 6-8 AM and most schools start at 8 AM. It is difficult for the parents to be two places at one time.

5. When a school bus delivers 30 students to a school, that means that there are not 30 extra automobiles causing congestion in the parking lot.

6. Riding in a yellow school bus is not glamorous. Most do not have seatbelts or very good spring suspensions. The ride is often bumpy and there is no air-conditioning. They are heated in the winter. The buses are often crowded and smell like whatever the individual students smell like. You may get chewed and discarded bubblegum on your shoe. To get an idea of what riding on a school bus is really like, see the ending of the hilarious comedy film, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. (The YouTube snippet will have advertisements which you may be able to skip). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLPu3Z6Tjg4

Mailbox Flags: This is the explanation of the little flags on individual home mailboxes: we do not have to go to our postal office to conduct our mailings. If we have our little flag flipped up, this is a signal to the postal carrier that we have outgoing mail. They push the flag into the down position, take our outgoing mail, and leave our incoming mail in the box.

It is a federal crime for anyone other than a postal worker to interfere in any way with postal delivery. It is also a federal crime for anyone else to open our mailboxes and file through our mail to see who has mailed us items or to take any of our mail.

Chick-fil-A: This is a brand or trade name for a chicken filet sandwich. The traditional Chick-fil-A sandwich is the bun, a piece of chicken coated with an egg wash and a dry flour dredge which contains a blend of spices, and one slice of pickle. The chicken is fried under pressure in peanut oil, that’s it. Every other company which sells chicken sandwiches has their own specific combination of ingredients, oils, and cooking methods. Some may bake, broil, or grill their chicken.

Food Combinations: Some visitors wondered if it was permissible to mix certain foods or to eat them in certain ways or at certain times. This struck many Americans as strange. This is a free country. It is nobody else’s business if you want to put ketchup, or even Ranch dressing, on your collard greens. You can eat whatever you like, whenever you want to. Many Americans love a good breakfast for their evening meal. Some enjoy eating spaghetti for breakfast.

Knowing that no-one will like everything, eat whatever you like. If you enjoy some strange combination of foods, stick it in your mouth and eat it.

Air Conditioning: We like our AC. Most modern homes in the United States are now built with central air conditioning systems controlled by heat pumps which switch between heating and cooling as the weather dictates.

One major reason for AC is that infants, children, people with chronic conditions, pregnant women, and the elderly are put into high risk in conditions of extreme heat.

Gun Ownership: The right to own guns is enshrined in our constitution, except, of course, for high grade military weapons. Not everyone owns a gun, but most people who do own guns use them for hunting (and yes, most of them eat what they kill), for sport shooting like shooting ranges and skeet shooting, or for personal and home protection. And, admittedly, there are some people who abuse the right of gun ownership.

Biscuits and Gravy: This is a traditional Southern breakfast. Few people would eat it every single day. It consists of soft dough biscuits covered in a white sausage gravy which often contains bits of pork sausage, bacon, or even ground beef. Many versions are heavily seasoned with black pepper. Most of us consider it to be heavenly.

There are hundreds of types of other gravies made from ingredients as varied as coffee, grilled meat drippings, cheeses, chocolate, apple cider, fruits, cornmeal, eggs, onions, seafood, flour, heavy cream, or tomatoes.

Lack of Mass Transport: America is primarily an individual automobile culture. Most of us would rather not deal with public transportation. Schedules! No. Delays! No. Extra cost! No. We just get in our car and go where we want to go when we want to do it.

Giant Megastores: Costco, Target, Walmart, Sam's, and other megastores can be described as large department stores which also include pharmacy and grocery departments. Some even have coffee shops, auto parts and repairs, gasoline pumps, cookie and cupcake shops, or delicatessens.

One Country with Fifty States: The United States is sometimes said to have no distinctive culture. That is actually not true, but it is also true that each one of the regions and each one of the states has its own distinctive culture. Massachusetts, Mississippi, Vermont, New Mexico, Hawai'i, Oregon, and Alaska can all seem like separate countries which are united by a shared history. Events like the 911 attacks, the moon landing, World War II, the Miracle on Ice, and the 2026 World Cup can bring us all together.

American Party Cups: The red plastic American Party Cups have no special significance. They are merely plastic cups which can be used once and then discarded. They make party cleanup simpler.

Romans 12:2