Visit elsewhere; appreciate USA

The problem with many Americans is that they simply don't understand how great we have it here in the "Good Old USA" because we take it for granted. Having just returned from two weeks in Israel and a side trip to Jordan, I wanted to kiss the runway when I landed back at O'Hare. Don't get me wrong, Israel and Jordan are fascinating places to visit for religious and historical reasons, but they are also places of chaos, confusion and in some cases, danger compared to America.

Never mind the 70 rockets that were fired into Israel from Gaza while we were there. Everyday stuff in Israel is chaos and confusion, like traffic, hostility between competing religious branches and even just street conversations between people. I felt like Don Corleone from "The Godfather" was everywhere in Israel as the Israelis and Arabs yelled at each other in traffic and on the streets. Nothing worked smoothly and calmly as it does here. Everything was complicated and passionate.

I can honestly say I have never sat in an airplane on the runway in the U.S. looking into the sky for incoming rockets and feeling relief when the plane took off. As is always the case, you need to experience the bad things in life to appreciate the good things. Here in America compared to most of the world, life is great. I wish more Americans understood and appreciated how lucky we are.

By the way, it was amazing to hear from so many Israelis how much President Trump is universally liked and appreciated there. But then they live in the real world and understand that the world is a dangerous place and freedom is not free.

Randy Rossi

Grayslake