It's My Birthday, Too

At least one of these little robins was born yesterday, on my birthday, and if I count that as one of my birthday presents, then I am officially spoiled. I think that birthdays are a bigger deal for Americans than for Czechs (and maybe most Europeans). We celebrate every birthday, not just the round anniversaries. The car washes here give birthday discounts on washes and oil changes, my bank and insurance agent send me birthday cards. The drug store sent me a coupon for three dollars to spend on anything I want, and I don't even take any medicines, so it isn't as if I'm a good customer. Many restaurants will bring you a free dessert with your meal if you or someone at your table tells them that it's your birthday. There is of course one small catch: when they bring your dessert, several of the servers sing loudly and clap all the way to your table so that everyone in the place knows it's your birthday.
At lunch I told the waitress that it was my birthday, and that if she wanted to bring me a dessert, I wouldn't mind it at all if she and her associates didn't sing. I was lucky and she served it alone, with a smile and a quiet "Happy Birthday". At the Mexican restaurant later, however, Bram played the part of informer, so I had to wear a silly tourist sombrero while the servers sang to me.
One year when Bram was small, we went around to various places just to see how much free stuff I could get. It's a silly thing to do, I know, but well, I am what I am.
It's no wonder that Americans have the reputation for being like children. We chew our gum (even bubble gum sometimes); we are boisterous and naive. We smile too often and too big, and we love to play. We are hopeless dreamers. It is said that we believe that the difficult we will do now; the impossible will take a little longer. It is one of the things which I like most about being an American: we believe that nothing is really impossible and we are willing to work to prove it. Maybe we are a bunch of big children, but I figure what's the point of threatening as a child to do whatever you want when you grow up, if you don't make good on it--at least every now and then. Now where is my Play Doh?