Easy as ABC

What’s the one song you never forget? The one song that is passed down from generation to generation, the tune that will forever stay in your mind? The ABC’s of course!

I didn’t grow up in a house with much of distinct cultural background. I grew up among some non-practicing Christian Caucasians. Sure, my father is full blow Italian, my mother is German and Polish, but their lineage never really played a hand in shaping my cultural identity. Growing up, I watched Sesame Street, read Dr. Seuss and ate apple pie. My culture is thoroughly American, and that is why I think that the ABC’s represents my culture.

You know, honestly, this song is completely under-rated. It’s one of the first songs we all learn, my mother learned it from her mother and so on and so forth and I know I will teach it to my own children. I can not tell you how many of the kids who I have babysat have come running up to me, barely able to contain their excitement as they slowly fumbled through the letters of the alphabet to the tune that sounds suspiciously like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The first time one can recite the ABC’s is the first step in reading, writing, communicating. It’s the first big step of your life.

And when you think about it, you realize that this mind-numbingly simple song, this educational nursery rhyme is a fundamental statement in our lives that first instills the American Spirit into our minds. There are so many countries, so many cultures when literacy is non-essential, when the ability to read and write is a luxury-something  only the most educated can do. But in America, being literate opens the doors to all forums of communication. Through communication can be found opportunity, which is what America stands for. Learning your ABC’s is thoroughly American.

When you can spell, you can write. When you can write you can write letters, memos, essays, articles, songs, poems, novels, resumes. All of these things will ultimately lead to your success.

So, to sum up what we have learned so far, learning the ABC’s as a child leads to learning to read, learning to spell, learning to write, which leads to opportunity and then leads to success. Theretofore, learning the ABC’s leads to success.

Success: What is possibly more sought after in America? White picket fence and a green lawn surrounding that nice house with blue shutters…it takes a lot of money to afford that particular American dream, so it requires a lot of success. But even if you don’t aspire to have any great wealth, the only way to make something of yourself, to be the person that you want to be and do the career you want to do, (also part of the American way, this idea of opportunity and freedom) is to learn your ABC’s. To me, this is one of the most significant songs in my culture, even if it didn’t originate here. The song has certainly become one of the many milestones in finding not only the “American Way” but who you are. Who would have thought it was that simple?