Been gone out of the country for a week, but it seems longer than that!

My husband and I made a 25th anniversary trip to Playa del Carmen last week. We managed to sneak some sun and fun into the rain-filled week that ended with Hurricane Ida delaying our flight home!

This is the second time in three years we’ve tried to take a Caribbean vacation only to be found by a hurricane!

Anyway, the interesting thing about traveling out of the country is getting to meet people from other countries. We spent a lot of time in the “socializing” area of our resort last week, and I was interested in how people from other countries perceive what is going on in the U.S. and with our economy.

By far, other than people from Mexico, the other nationality that seemed to be prevalent at the resort were Canadians. So, we talked a lot to folks from Canada about their country and our country.

I have to tell you that, by far, the people we met from all nationalities are big President Barack Obama fans. They see his election as something really to be proud of. That was interesting for me to hear because, for the most part, I oppose his agenda and his policies.

So, when I queried them about why they like Obama, I didn’t get answers about his health care or energy agenda. They like him because he’s “international.” They see Mr. Obama not as simply an American, but a “world” leader.

In the same breath, however, many people said they feared for the U.S. place in the world. People from other countries have expected the United States to be the leader of the free world. Some Canadians I visited were very concerned about the losing power of the U.S. dollar. One couple said, for the first time, they believe the U.S. economy may not come back from this recession as it has come back before.

The Canadians I talked to weren’t that upset with their health care system, as some conservative pundits might try to tell you. In fact, it wasn’t the health care issue they wanted to talk about.

They wanted to talk about the economy. I think a lot of us in this country take for granted just how much our U.S. economy drives the world economy. European countries are seeing somewhat of an economic comeback, but they are very wary of where the U.S. stands. If the U.S. remains sluggish, the other countries’ recoveries are in jeopardy.

I didn’t get a sense of whether these folks I talked to believe Obama can lead the U.S. economy back to recovery. They didn’t really seem to have an opinion on it.

All they perceive, apparently, is the U.S. is losing its world status, even though they like its new world leader.

I’m not sure what that tells me. Are we all so mired in admiration of personalities that we forget about the details and the actual ability to do the job? Is it more important for our leaders to be “liked” than it is for him or her to actually lead us in the right and prosperous direction?

I have no doubt that the U.S. is in the hot seat internationally now more than ever. Without a rigorous economy and job growth in this country, all the health care plans and energy tax plans are just going to pull the U.S. down, down, down. And, my new international friends seem to understand that without a real U.S. economic recovery, their own economic futures are in peril.