Her claim was that people were resentful, as well as, begrudging and she did not want these people out of spite to blight my future. As you can imagined, she and I were always at odds when it came to her unsound logics, thus, in moments of vexation, her concession speech went something like this,
you see Etta, I was not as blessed as you, to be born with God given talents, and have prospects presented to you on a silver platter, not to mention a doting fool for a mother.
Anyway, I ramble….
Here is the thing, during the course of being a student in the United States, I came to the realization that immigrants of all color, class or creed are very hesitant when it comes to sharing their American experience ,as they do not want to be accused of depriving others from partaking at a piece of the American pie. That said, everyone has a story and everyone wants others to feel the pain paying their debts to society, oblige at contributing to the war efforts and grin and bear the rights of passage to the American dream.
Well I have heard with my own two ears some real horror stories and have seen with my own two eye some ghastly and deplorable conditions that some these immigrants existed under. However, their families to whom they send remittances and the occasional shipments of food stuff and clothing have no idea of the sacrifices these immigrants are prepared to endure, just to save face -They bargain hunt, scrimp and starve, storm thrift shops and rove flea markets.
Listen, developed countries like the United States are places of opportunities, indeed.
America in particular is a system built upon multiple layers, upon multiple layers of laws, that you have to work within and not around like those systems of less developed countries.
One will often hear the fallacy , Land of the Free, but like everything else, there are rules and there are exceptions to every rule, and as the old adage goes, the devil is in the details.
To this end, emigrants do not want to hear that there are preponderances of local ordinances, laws that could wrap around the globe and back, for example, In some States in America, there are counties you will be fined for outdated tags on cars parked in your yard; issued ticket for parking your boat on the easement; fined for for removing a tree from your yard and not replacing it with one of similar size; fined for growing your shrubbery above a certain length; a lien on you residence if you do not pay your dog tag and I could go on and on to the matter of permits.
Image that you are in love, do you want to hear stuff that will shatter your fantasy world?, no, well, same goes for people wanting to emigrate to a foreign land, they don’t want to hear about the reality that may destroy dreams.
They do not want to hear about choices and consequences that if you drink and drive; bounce a check; raised your hand to hit partner or just mere caught standing over the neighbor’s dead dog, then then here transgressions will get you an arrest record that will follow your social security number, impede job prospects and lower your standings of living. People don’t want to hear about earning every penny the American way, through blood, sweat and tears.
Dreamers don’t want to know that any month that you stumble and kiss the ground, consequently, unable to meet the rent, it’s on the streets you go. Nobody wants to hear that if somebody feels sorry for you today and out of empathy for your plight, hands you a dollar, don’t expect any sympathy from them tomorrow. Again, I could go on…..Each Emigrant like to believe that things will be different for them and those things happen to other unlucky people.
Consider this piece of wisdom from my flat mate during my college days:,
Etta, let me tell you something, this is America, don’t go around giving anybody over the counter pills of any sort. Don’t try to run across the road when the hand says stop, as there people who will run you down, just to prove a point!
Many U.S. Immigrants’ Children Seek American Dream Abroad - http://nyti.ms/HJLaH6
