A long lull, a goal realised and an aware citizen

Oath of Allegiance for Naturalized Citizens:

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

Accessed from USCIS website May 17th 2009

Well it has been a long time coming, but I have finally become an American citizen. Going through this process and having to take the oath that appears above has left me with deeper thoughts and ideas on what it means to be a citizen or any nation.

For instance, neither Marcy or Saoirse were required to take that oath. Being born as a US citizen infers that they will adhere to this oath. It strikes me that most of us who don't serve in the armed forces or a government agency would ever consider the responsibilities that come with citizenship.

I'm still working through how I feel about this, but my initial reaction is that this is very wrong. I actually feel guilty as it is only through this process that I have taken a hard look at what it means to be an Irish citizen. I don't feel that just being born in Ireland gives me the right to claim myself as a citizen. Sure, I voted (albeit once) and I would have served as a juror when requested, but is that all it entails?

Here in the USA, I had to want to be a citizen. I understood all the benefits; but it began with a conscious choice. The process, the oath and the naturalization process instilled in me (or at least is making me consider and figure out) what it means to be a citizen. The irony is I had no American dream, no desire to live here. Fate and circumstance brought us to these shores. Yet here I am gladly taking the oath and declaring myself American. Why? It's part of my wife's heritage and my daughter's, it is only fitting that all of our family embrace both cultures.

While Marcy and I want to return to Ireland, who knows what Saoirse will want when she is old enough to lead her own life? It's only right that I be able to support and advise her whatever she chooses. In my mind that demands my understanding and participation as a citizen of both these fine nations.

Why did you give that white baby a black name?

This is quite possibly the funniest, and least predicted, culture clash ... yet inoffensive ... we'll ever experience.

Marcy brought our daughter, Saoirse, into work so that her co-workers could meet her. The 2-month old was fawned over by the predominately female staff.

Now, I should also point out that we enjoy telling Americans her name, and explaining how to pronounce it and its origin. We joke with friends that we'll only tell them how to pronounce her name once, and if they can repeat it correctly the next day, they win a prize. No one has come to claim it!! Irish vowels make explaining this difficult, but the closest I can give you is: Say-er-sha; with 'Say-er' being one syllable ... and 'sha' ending more in an 'eh'. It's an Irish word that translates to Freedom.

This is a big set-up for a short story, but basically one of Marcy's Black co-workers honestly asked (on hearing the name spoken alone), "Why did you give that white baby a black name?" Given that we generally hear an indignant, "Why did you give her such a difficult name? You'll have to teach her to spell it," this was refreshing. [Side-note: of course we have to teach her how to spell her name. Sure we'll have to spell it to everyone who meets her. But considering (as noted before) we already have to spell her sur(family)name, and our first names, we're used to it.]

An explanation to our Irish friends: there is an interesting trend where old irish names are being adopted into the African-American culture, albeit perhaps a little unwittingly, and with significantly different spelling. That said, I could be wrong, and it just be a co-incidence. But let me introduce you to exhibit A and B.

My sister's name is Ciara. European-America's have twisted it's spelling to Kiera to better line-up it's pronunciation with English syllabi than Irish. Now, there is a hip-hop artist, who uses the Irish spelling, but pronounces her name as Sierra - a more English pronunciation of the Irish spelling.

Marcy's grandmother's name is Duana - the female equivalent of Duane, both in their Irish forms [Dwayne and Duwanna for those looking for something closer to the phonetics]. Marcy's conversation with the same co-worker also lead to a similar, "That's a Black name" comparison.

Rather than been accused of making our daughter's life difficult for giving her an ethnic name - okay no-one has put it those terms, but we can read in between the lines - it's nice to have a example of culture's mixing in the United States. We're very proud of our daughter's name and it's meaning. Names are supposed to be important and have meaning, and we're glad Saoirse's will evoke honest questions about differences and similarities in cultures.

O'NO!!!

I'm officially sick of the "O'jokes". Using it as a prefix to any word does not automatically make it funny, quaint or Irish.

This is one of the many things about St. Patrick's Day (over here) that gets really annoying really fast; blatant overuse of something from another culture that is neither understood nor appreciated.

It's made me more aware of the other immigrants around me, and the different bastardisations of their culture that may be prevalent. But more about these at another time.

For my American friends: O' comes from the the ancient naming conversion of saying who you where from. Mick O'Neill translates as Mick from(lit.) Niall, but is more commonly translated as Mick son of Niall.

And yes, my initials are MON, not MO; MN maybe, but not MO.

Stupid

One thing I had to quickly learn about the typical Minnesotan is their passive-aggressive mature. Now, we're not an aggressive person by nature, but in contrast, Marcy and I seem to have gained "reputations". Why the quotes? Because few here have the guts to tell us this.

We've picked it up from our more candid, straight talking friends. In my two years at my company (which shall remain nameless to protect the innocent!), rumour has it that I've managed to scare a whole crew of technicians, and start arguments at every turn. This is because I ritually do something view do, speak my mind.

People here have an opinion that you cannot criticise the idea without attacking the person, so they don't. They will happily blast the person behind their back though. I know you can critique the idea and still respect the person. To those I report to, I'm known as someone who can analyse objectively, and bring a group together to get things done.

It's to the point where I am the arbitrator when it comes to the processes on which I am a subject matter expert. So when I arrive into work on Monday, and have a memo waiting for me asking if someone's breach from procedure had merit (a procedure which I had just helped in reinforcing people's training), there was only one way to sum up the individuals idea: stupid. And that's the word I used in the memo, which I sent to individual's boss.

Now, I'm not naive enough to think that I'd get a statement like that out without a comment. But I meant stupid as it was the best adjective I could use for an idea which was [ref.]:

1. Obtuse
2. Was a poor decision
3. Marked by a lack of care
4. Stunningly inaccurate
5. Pointless; worthless

Their Boss later suggested that I should not have used that word. I truly feel that the use of any other word would have been ... well, stupid. Of course, it would be unfair, nay cowardly of me to post what the error was. This whole post probably makes me seem really aggressive to American readers, and silly to Irish readers who would use words much stronger than stupid.

But I cracked a smile when, in a meeting with their Boss on a different matter, he used the word stupid. Maybe I've started something (fingers crossed).

A New Beginning

So it's been a while. Why the absence? Or maybe a better question is, why the return?

Well, I quickly realized that either I posted everyday (that's how often something weird seems to occur) or there was nothing that was individually noteworthy seems to occur.

Before someone comments, "Amadán, that's the whole point of a blog!", I get it now.

So I feel I have something to say, or maybe just to vent. Maybe I'll censor it, but to be frank, I don't really care to anymore. Why?

Well, I recently got back from visiting friends and family back home. I knew I lost my accent (though it does return). I knew I would use American turns of phrase (I've had to practice not to use the Irish ones at the wrong time). And I knew I'd get slagged (but that's what friends and family are for).

What I didn't expect was to be told by a Northern Irish taxi-driver not to go into a Pub in Finglas with "that accent". Nor did I expect to be surprise to hear 'Fuck' on TV (after 9pm of course).

So I guess I need to remind myself every now and again that I do come from another country; and I do have a different way of thinking. And while it has caused me to make mistakes, it's gotten me where I am.

I have plenty of thoughts to post, maybe sometimes, people will even read them. If nothing new happens, I'll tell you why I was pulled aside for using stupid in an work email. Or why I dislike the Irish-American holiday of St. Patrick's Day (not to be confused with the Irish Holiday of the same name). Or why I think other immigrants are cool.

I might even talk about what it feels like to be an Irish immigrant who returns home!

There is no apt title...

I'm still trying to understand America, it's national identity, culture; to sum it up, it's way of thinking. For as long as I live here, and indeed become a citizen, I can't think the same way. Now that I've acknowledged that, things will get easier. I don't have to agree with these ways of thiking, but I do try to understand the logic used. Most of the time I'm successful, but this is one of the times I'm not:

For a year, Julee Lacey stopped in a CVS pharmacy near her home in a Fort Worth suburb to get refills of her birth-control pills. Then one day last March, the pharmacist refused to fill Lacey's prescription because she did not believe in birth control.- USAToday.com Druggists refuse to give out pill

Now, I understand that the constitution's separation between church and state means that someone's religious beliefs should not be hindered by the government on any level. But I have to ponder: it's a pharamcist's job to fill precriptions. So, if there is any reason they would be unable to perform their job, should they be employed? Sure, I could sugar-coat that opinion, and softened considerabley, but that's what it boils down to in my mind.

This instant comes down to the fact that this particular instance involves two topics that people don't want to consider discussing over here: Religion & Reproductive-Rights. Both are important issues, yet surely irrelevant in this issue. If you can't do the job, they you shouldn't be there. So the employer should be held to task, as they need to provide the customer/consumer with the means to get what they need.

Other Info:
Congress eyes birth control bill - pharamcist.com
BBC NEWS | UK | Wales | Pharmacist refuses birth control
pharmacist refuses birth control - Google Search

The growing separation between the USA & The World

Oh my! They've gone and done it how. First enviromental treaties; then disarmament treaties; then trade agreements. Now they're disagreeing over the SUN!! Okay, I'm blowing this out of proportion, but I find this funny. I found this trying to confirm when Daylight Saving Time is. I wonder how many people here know that Congress has changed this.

But just months after Indiana got in step with the rest of the country, the federal government announced a major change in Daylight Saving Time. In Aug. 2005, Congress passed an energy bill that included extending Daylight Saving Time by about a month. Beginning in 2007, DST will start the second Sunday of March and end on the first Sunday of November. - New Federal Law—Springing Forward in March, Back in November