"Gum-Chewers"

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. So, here goes. I, Maddie Swenson, am addicted to gum. I chew a pack a day and commonly run to gum to solve my breath problems. Wow, I feel tons better. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
When my German exchange student, Franzi, answered my question regarding what she had previously believed to be true about Americans (compared to what she currently believes), she told me that most of the stereotypes she had heard simply weren't true. She told me: Not all Americans are fat and we eat healthy food on occasion. But we do chew large amounts of gum.

Eclipse Car Cups = The greatest idea ever. $1.25 everybody.
Apparently there are those in other countries that refer to Americans as "gum-chewers". I am unsure as to how this makes me feel.
America is not a favorable country of origin if you are not, in fact, from America. Other places believe this to be the country of opportunity, but also a "dumb" and "fat" one. Americans believe that America is literally the best country ever and refuse to believe anything that contradicts that. It wasn't until recently that I learned we didn't score the highest on worldwide tests for students. We are raised to believe that America is a superpower in all ways. Anything that threatens us is ultimately dubbed the enemy and anything we do is AOK as long as we can cover up our motives for doing them later on.
Don't get me wrong, I love America, land of the free. I love being able to chew large amounts of gum and not be banished for doing so. I love being able to be sassy and not be stoned for non-conformity. I love being able to wear what I want and believe what I want. In America I can express myself.
But there are also no boundaries for those who need them. People who actually comment on Youtube videos and cut themselves for Bieber. Sometimes, America can be land of the "dumb" and "fat". But maybe we can change that.