“You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Until You Lose It” was a 1961 hit song written by Paul Hampton and George Burton and recorded by Ral Donner. That lyric applies to a lot of Americans right now. I hope we never lose what we have in America, but many of us are a long way from appreciating our country and way of life.

The Europeans and Asians who are here to see the World Cup are giving Americans a lesson in appreciating the life we live in America. Our visitors are posting their adventures on X, YouTube, and Instagram, and the videos and comments are being shared on Facebook and across all social media. Please search these posts out if you have not yet seen them. The visiting Europeans and Asians appreciate many simple things Americans take for granted.

I love the videos of visitors experiencing Buc-ee’s for the first time. One visitor was amazed at people having their picture taken with a statue of a giant rodent. Visitors visiting a restaurant discovered ranch dressing. There is also a video of a visitor discovering free drink refills. These are things we take for granted as Americans.

The visiting Europeans and Asians brought some of their own national personalities here. The Japanese cleaned up one of the stadiums after the game. The Norwegians sat down on an escalator and rowed in sync. The Norwegians also did “the row” in one of the stadiums where Americans might do “the wave.”

I wasn’t all that excited when I heard that the World Cup was coming to America, but now I can really see the value of the event. Much of the world is simply having fun together and enjoying a sport. Many of the world’s ideas about America are being changed. Many of the visitors have talked about how friendly Americans are.

As Americans, we need to wake up and realize that we live in the greatest country in the world–and we are free.

This is one example of the adventures of our visitors: