Less American

I walk everywhere I can. Sometimes by choice and sometimes by force as I don't have a car available at the moment. I get offers from people I know all the time who offer to pick me up. The walk I usually take to the moms' group I participate in and the ESL ministry I help in is only about 15 minutes. Since I do it at least once a week if not two, it's a really short walk. I really, really don't mind it and like the exercise. Plus, it shows my children that there are other modes of transportation besides driving.
I've been called crazy and people have told me they've done a double take when seeing someone walking in the cold or rain. Crazy, no?!? No. Not at all. Why do we not embrace walking? Well, for one, I think this area of the country isn't set up for walking so to see someone walk somewhere is bizarre. There aren't any stores very close like there would be in a city.
When it's cold, we bundle up. Walking while pushing two kids in a stroller, gets you sweating so in a few minutes, I'm usually ready to shed a layer. My kids are bundled up and the littlest is under a plastic rain/weather shield which actually keeps her area quite toasty.
When it's raining, my oldest had a rain jacket and the younger has that rain shield over her part of the stroller. Neither has complained about the cold or rain thus far. Granted, I've never walked in a heavy downpour and that would cause us to either delay or cancel our plans of walking and just stay at home.
Anyhow, my blog title. Less American. I'm trying to figure out how to get somewhere on a day I don't have a car and I enter into a conversation with someone about how I walk places. I find myself saying I'm trying to be less American. What in the world I meant by that I'm not sure. Less..lazy? Less...needy? Less....entitled? Less....expecting everything? I don't know.
The longer I live here after living abroad the less tolerant I am of being from the United States. Which sounds horrid as I have relatives who fought in the World Wars and served in the military. I don't want to downplay all that they have done for our country to keep us from dictators, etc. but at the same time, I really am at odd lately with the prosperity of our country and the entitlement we all feel.
We don't need most of the things we have, yet we say "I need" all the time when it's really a "I want." I'm trying to live with less. Some out of necessity some out of trying to be more able to be like Jesus. Jesus had no permanent place to rest his head once he started his ministry. Why should I have any better? I don't feel at home here anymore and it's hard to know what to do with that.