Apart from a few personal friends I have on DA, the rest of you... you have no idea who I am. And if my country of residence wasn't posted on my profile, you could only guess where I'm from. Does that matter? Would knowing that I am from the U.S. change your opinions of me? Would you hold me in high regards, hailing me as a member of a thriving frontrunner nation? Or would you hate me, for the wars, the killing, the sadness that we bring upon your own country.

I feel a lot of people get bad impressions about the U.S. Sometimes I'll be talking to someone online and the moment they find out I'm a U.S. citizen, they criticize me for the war or badger me about President Bush. As if I, at 18 years old, have any control of the government's decisions.

Just because I live in America, doesn't make life easy. I don't hate Arabs. I don't think I'm better than anyone else. I see many of the same faults with our government that you do. Even with many freedoms, I have many restrictions. I support democratic reform. I don't believe that you must speak English to live in my country.

So really, we're not all so bad. The same goes for any country. Don't judge people by their origins... judge them for them. You'll be surprised, and maybe you'll come to find out you're not as different as you thought.

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Just a little deep philosophical ramble. This is the result of a few days of thought. The original concept that I had a few days ago was quite different, but I really like the final concept I ended up going with. Nothing too complicated. Very simple way to make a point I think.

Now, if you're interested, there's some history hidden in these numbers. (And you thought those numbers were just randomly generated...) So, what is it? Birthday? Phone number? Credit card number? (Ha, you try that and lemme know how that works for ya)

Actually they are important dates and statistics taken from the pages of U.S. History. If you're curious, here's a breakdown of what each of the numbers in my barcode represent:

1 -- (known as the Number System Character on barcodes) I chose the number 1 to be in this place because I feel that it defined the very 'character' of the U.S. We are one, united, striving for equality. We are one nation of many different people.

29267 -- (known as the Manufacturer Code on barcodes) Okay, ignore the two for me for a moment and move on to the last four digits. 14'92' was the year that Columbus first staked claim to the Americas. And 17'76' marks the approval of the Declaration of our Indepence Day. I chose these dates because I felt like they helped mold, shape... uh, "manufacture" if you will, our country.

91106 -- (known as the Product Code on barcodes) Alright, now the 9 in this section actually doubles up on meanings which is pretty cool. For now, just look at as 911. Yep, you guessed it: 9/11, a day that has changed present day America forever. Which speaking of, brings us to the next sequence, '06'. Pretty self-explanatory that one. Basically, these dates are the proverbial "products" of U.S. history.

9 -- (known as the Check Digit on barcodes) Alright, so here's where it all comes together. That stranded 2 from the second sequence, that 9 from the previous sequence, and the final number (also 9) all come together to form 299. The significane of this? 299 is the current reported population of the U.S. All those years of history, from the day Columbus and his men touched earth here, to the present struggles we face today, it all... well, checks out.