A German soccer fan named Freddy walked into a Waffle House at 1 AM, ordered a hash brown bowl, and gave it a perfect score. Since then, seven million people have seen the post. In just a few days, he’s amassed more than 400,000 followers by driving across the American South and reacting to what he found, and he’s not alone.
The 2026 World Cup brought European tourists to our doorstep, and they can’t stop talking about the awesome time they are having. A Swedish visitor named Elsa went viral, marveling at ranch dressing and the simple sight of a yellow school bus. A Scottish fan named Shaun documented being welcomed to a Texas barbecue and put American mac and cheese near the top of his all-time foods list. Another German fan watched a military flyover before a match and admitted, in the meme-centric phrasing, that the European mind cannot comprehend it.
They are blown away by things we enjoy every day without thinking twice. The mountain-to-beach road trip. Fountain drinks the size of a small bucket. The Wendy's menu with more options than some European grocery stores. The bald eagle circling a football stadium holding 90,000 people. For people raised on a steady diet of negative stories about American decline and division, the real thing is a revelation. As it turns out, the America they’ve seen in the movies is actually the real deal.
Here is the part that shouldn’t be overlooked: Everything our new European friends are experiencing is a result of America’s economic freedom.
Buc-ee's wasn’t designed by the government. No central planner mandated 120 gas pumps, freshly made brisket, and a home goods section full of affordable tchotchkes. It exists because the free market rewards entrepreneurs who serve customers better than the next guy. The road trip from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Gulf of America in a single day is possible because Americans enjoy affordable fuel, open roads, and the freedom to fill up their Ford F-150 without asking anyone’s permission.
The European mind struggles to comprehend American abundance because the European economic model is not built to produce it. Most EU states tax gasoline in excess and ration energy in the name of climate targets, making driving a personal vehicle too expensive for residents to justify. When you tax and regulate the life out of an economy, you don’t get Buc-ee's, you get a tiny petrol station with two pumps and a bathroom that costs a euro to use. The best real-world example of this contrast is that the average person living in America’s poorest state has a higher income and greater purchasing power than the average EU resident.
The lesson is simple. Abundance is the byproduct of human innovation, made possible only when the government gets out of the way. Our vast resources were not handed to us by the state; they were cultivated by the greatest American minds over the past 250 years.
The best part of all of this may be the response from our side of the Atlantic. We have adopted European travelers as our own. The comment sections, normally a cesspool, are filled with friendly recommendations: try this diner, see that overlook, here is a fun activity in my hometown, come join us at our backyard barbecue. We couldn’t help but join in. When Freddy stumbled onto the German-themed town of Helen in Georgia, the Heartland Impact X account pointed him up the Blue Ridge parkway to Little Switzerland, North Carolina, and nudged him to carve out a stop in New Orleans as he swung from Tennessee down to the Florida panhandle and on towards his final destination of Houston. Americans who have grown accustomed to agreeing on almost nothing find themselves agreeing on this: We have it good, and it feels great to watch the rest of the world realize it.
For years, we have been told that America is hopelessly fractured and that pride in this country isn’t cool anymore. Then a few foreigners fell in love with our diverse scenery, our 24/7 breakfast chains, and our enormous football stadiums, and reminded tens of millions of us why we love it here too. The truth is that patriotism is cool and it’s totally warranted.
As we approach America's 250th birthday, we should reflect on this lesson. Being American is more than simply living here. It means embracing a culture of freedom, abundance, and neighborly generosity that no other nation has matched. These European visitors are becoming honorary Americans because they get it. They now understand (perhaps better than we do) that the everyday conveniences we shrug at are things the rest of the world only dreams of.
Let’s celebrate this once-in-a-generation event and welcome people from around the world. They are learning what it means to be American and, in the process, they are reminding the rest of us. The greatest country ever conceived did not happen by chance; it was the vision of the Founding Fathers, who valued liberty above all else. Our job is to remember that and to keep choosing the freedom that made the abundance possible.
Welcome to America, Freddy. Grab a Big Gulp — the refills are free.
Patrick Snow ([email protected]) is communications director at Heartland Impact.
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