More Learning from Immigrant Public Servants
A while back, I wrote a story about a taxi ride I had and its affect on me. I had another experience tonight.
I was taking the last bus home at night to my place, and I seemed to fall asleep during it. As we reached the last stop on this particular bus's schedule, the driver woke me up. I was very apologetic, and as we talked, it became clear that on his return circuit back to base, he could drop me off at my regular stop. The only thing was, he had half a circuit left; as a result, he had to wait for another ten minutes at the Park and Ride we were parked in before we could leave. He had to keep to his schedule.
Fair enough. The guy is doing his job.
I left the bus and relieved myself in the nearby porta-potty. When I came back, this bus driver and I struck up a conversation, probably because I was his only passenger at the time.
The gentleman's name was Saul, and as we talked it became known he was originally from El Salvador. He had come to this country in 1981.
Now, I have found in my life that you can get into great discussions with international folks if: 1) you actually know where their country is on the map; 2) you know the capital of said country; and especially, 3) you know something about their history. My obsession with trivia and geography has served me well in this regard. So has my debate experience, which taught me about a lot of things you won't find in American high school history or whatever books.
This was such a case. When I heard that Saul was from El Salvador and had left in 1981, my training perked up my interest. I said, "oh, you must have left during the Civil War." And Saul was blown away. He asked me how I knew, and I told him about my debate experience, and especially about how I had learned about Roberto D'Aubuisson and the death squads of that guy. Saul was now into the discussion. Because D'Aubuisson was funded by the USA, we started talking about the terrible toll that the USA has taken on Central and South America. About how the CIA overthrew a popularly elected government in Guatemala and instilled a military dictatorship that committed genocide on its country's native Mayan descendants. About how we funded the Contras in Nicaragua, who slaughter innocents. About how we invaded Panama to remove and jail a man we trained. About how, again, the CIA overthrew a democratically elected government in Chile in 1972, initiating years of killing and "disappeared" peoples.
Now, this conversation wasn't really angry or anything. We were just sighing on historical facts. And here is where the irony of it all sets in: Saul absolutely loves this country. He was bringing up all of this stuff, which I knew and talked with him about, but the bottom line was he couldn't think of a better place to be.
This, I think, is the irony of our country. People around the world dissociate the people and the environment from the government. They love it here; they work hard; they participate; they love for what it stands. But they hate the actual policies that the country metes out in the foreign arena. That hurts for them. And it has often had material consequences for them. And yet, they still want to come here and defend it.
If that is not a lesson for how screwed up we are in foreign policy now, I don't know what is.
I was taking the last bus home at night to my place, and I seemed to fall asleep during it. As we reached the last stop on this particular bus's schedule, the driver woke me up. I was very apologetic, and as we talked, it became clear that on his return circuit back to base, he could drop me off at my regular stop. The only thing was, he had half a circuit left; as a result, he had to wait for another ten minutes at the Park and Ride we were parked in before we could leave. He had to keep to his schedule.
Fair enough. The guy is doing his job.
I left the bus and relieved myself in the nearby porta-potty. When I came back, this bus driver and I struck up a conversation, probably because I was his only passenger at the time.
The gentleman's name was Saul, and as we talked it became known he was originally from El Salvador. He had come to this country in 1981.
Now, I have found in my life that you can get into great discussions with international folks if: 1) you actually know where their country is on the map; 2) you know the capital of said country; and especially, 3) you know something about their history. My obsession with trivia and geography has served me well in this regard. So has my debate experience, which taught me about a lot of things you won't find in American high school history or whatever books.
This was such a case. When I heard that Saul was from El Salvador and had left in 1981, my training perked up my interest. I said, "oh, you must have left during the Civil War." And Saul was blown away. He asked me how I knew, and I told him about my debate experience, and especially about how I had learned about Roberto D'Aubuisson and the death squads of that guy. Saul was now into the discussion. Because D'Aubuisson was funded by the USA, we started talking about the terrible toll that the USA has taken on Central and South America. About how the CIA overthrew a popularly elected government in Guatemala and instilled a military dictatorship that committed genocide on its country's native Mayan descendants. About how we funded the Contras in Nicaragua, who slaughter innocents. About how we invaded Panama to remove and jail a man we trained. About how, again, the CIA overthrew a democratically elected government in Chile in 1972, initiating years of killing and "disappeared" peoples.
Now, this conversation wasn't really angry or anything. We were just sighing on historical facts. And here is where the irony of it all sets in: Saul absolutely loves this country. He was bringing up all of this stuff, which I knew and talked with him about, but the bottom line was he couldn't think of a better place to be.
This, I think, is the irony of our country. People around the world dissociate the people and the environment from the government. They love it here; they work hard; they participate; they love for what it stands. But they hate the actual policies that the country metes out in the foreign arena. That hurts for them. And it has often had material consequences for them. And yet, they still want to come here and defend it.
If that is not a lesson for how screwed up we are in foreign policy now, I don't know what is.
posted by cc at
10:12 PM
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