Independence is a funny thing

Independence is a funny thing.

I like to think I’m independent, and on the surface I am. I pay my own bills, feed myself and more often than not I do all of those quite well, with the exception of the occasional junk food and coffee bender.

But the truth is, I am far from independent.

My coffee is grown in Columbia, shipped to Montana by pilots, truck drivers, and probably very cranky burros. Without it, this newspaper would be a garbled mess on par with Frankenstein’s public speaking skills.

The computers I use at home and at work were designed in California and assembled in China using parts from Japan. Without them, this newspaper would be written in crayon on construction paper.

When life gets overwhelming, I call my parents for the advice I need.

Once I’ve digested their new hard-fact-of-life, I go to my old college friends from China and Japan for the advice I wanted to hear. This typically involves the previously mentioned junk food binge.

Without my parents’ and friends’ advice, I wouldn’t accomplish much beyond breathing; and even then they’ve had to remind me “to just take a deep breath.”

As a country we celebrated our independence this week. But I wonder, just how independent are we?

We depend on other countries for so many imports that seeing the words “made in the U.S.A.” became almost impossible to find until it recently came back into vogue.

A few months ago I bought a new pair of cowboy boots, Tony Lamas, if you want to get particular about it.

Made in China.

When did this happen?

I’m okay with my coffee being Columbian, my computers being international, and my advice from multiple sources. Having the most qualified person do the job is the best way to get anything of good quality, whether it’s coffee, computers, or advice.

But realizing my boots weren’t American got me over-analyzing every detail. The stitching isn’t right and doesn’t even match up, etc…I grew to hate them.

I found myself eyeballing a new pair, basically the same, but they were definitely made in America. The nearly doubled price tag made that much evident.

But, I’m not about to borrow money from my Chinese friends just to fulfill a petty want. After all, I’m an independent American.