Americana

Baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie are often associated with the American way of life.

Baseball - a game where kids can revel in joyful exuberance while mimicking the very heroes they admire. It's also a full blown commercial enterprise characterized by the abuse of performance enhancing drugs and multi-million dollar salaries.

Hot dogs - I'm not sure anybody really knows what's inside a hot dog. It doesn't really matter though, since an increasingly obese America loves to consume them. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, Americans typically consume 7 billion hot dogs between Memorial Day and Labor Day. That's 818 hot dogs consumed every second during that period. As if that weren't enough, we've somehow managed to create an entire subculture centered around contests designed to celebrate individuals who can consume the most dogs before spewing chunks all over the onlookers.

Apple pie - Surely there can't be anything wrong with a fresh, home made apple pie cooling in the kitchen windowsill. Agreed; although for most, the closest we get to a home made apple pie comes from a box stamped with the name of Mrs. Smith or Edwards.

If this is what we're known for, I'm not sure what this says about who we are. I guess it's all a matter of perspective.