Ain't That America

I was talking recently about America and one of our seemingly most simple entities: our currency

It dawned on me a while ago that, as far as my knowledge extends, our coins lack something that no other coin that I have ever seen does: numbers. Most people in the US are oblivious to this and whenever I point it out to anyone, they are often surprised or even disbelieving. But if you reach into your pocket I assure you that none of the American nickels, dimes, quarters or pennies will have a number on them.

This isn't entirely true. Our coins have dates on them. Interesting, perhaps, but useless if you are trying to determine their value. Pennies and nickels offer the most help, stating "one cent" and "five cents" respectively. Quarters offer the cryptic mathematical quotient of "quarter dollar," while the dime offers the most enigmatic, "one dime." Nor are the coin sizes intuitive. The dime is the smallest, yet worth more than the penny and the nickel.

These issues may seem trivial, but as someone who has travelled extensively, struggled with computing exchange rates in my head and fumbled with foreign currency, I can't imagine the dismay of not knowing English and struggling with coins without numbers.

Perhaps I'm making too much of a big deal over a few cents. But the sentiment runs much deeper than our change pockets. The United States has no official language. While English is the de facto national language, none has ever been officially declared. Yet if you deplane at most international terminals in the US, you will rarely find an alternative translation for "Baggage Claim," or "Transportation."

My favorite, and what I can only assume to be an absolute nightmare for any visitor, domestic or international, is my home airport of Boston Logan and the subsequent labyrinth known as the "Big Dig." Assuming you find your rental car and navigate your way out of the airport, you are immediately faced with a toll booth, the price of which continues to rise but what I believe is now $3.50. Assuming you know what a toll booth is, that you have American money, and that you can figure out how much 50 cents is, you are then funneled into a tunnel. Next, assuming you can read the sign that says, "Government Center/Storrow Drive," that it isn't blocked off for construction with no detour provided and on the chance that you follow the correct fork in the road, you will be spit out into a maze of poorly named and one way streets to fend for yourself. Welcome to America.

There is a reason for this American hubris. The US was long-entrenched in a policy of isolationism. It sealed itself from the rest of the world in its developmental years, determined to stay out of other peoples' business and have them stay out of ours. From its early years, Presidents Washington and Adams avoided intervention in the war between Britain and France in an attempt to solidify America's neutrality. Yet since that time we have deviated from that path. America is at the epicenter of world events and, as the only remaining superpower, is the most influential player on the world stage. At the same time, the US has become a destination for immigrants, refugees and visitors alike.

The inscription on the Statue of Liberty reads, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door." Just make sure they can speak English.

We Americans are proud of our country, our history and our heritage. But we must be careful of where our patriotism oversteps its bounds into arrogance. And while many will be up in arms at any sign of accommodation (even those who struggle with English as a first language), we must at least consider some small simple changes like multi-lingual signs or numerical values on our coins.

Penny for your thoughts. It's the brownish one that says one cent on it...