Two Immigrants & a Mic

Introduction to Third Season -

Generally speaking! This episode illustrates, if nothing else, the fact that we immigrants have normal conversations that sometimes revolve around nothing but 'campfire' talk. You're really eavesdropping here; see what you might find and let us know your thoughts.

Modern Americans are not known for voting and putting in place a government that works for everyone. This is evident in all things 'American'; from individuals we vote into office, place on the Supreme Court, to those we coddle in big business. We are simply not interested in anything that does not cater to our selfishness. In this episode, as always, we jump around and basically talk about this and other things related to how we feel about our countrymen and the place we call home. If you're of the opinion that we should move out, or go someplace where things are different, our answer to that is: Wait! We'll fix this mess (for you!) just like immigrants have done so for generations. We don't run from problems. We fix it! Immigrants like us are what will make America great (again). 

Since we really didn't get to finish our conversation with our mystery man in the last episode, we decided to have him back with us. Jerry is being a bit pesky and I wonder if any guest would join us due to his ramblings and insulting questions, but at least this guest came back. Let's see what happens! We're glad to have your with us and please let us know what you think. You can drop us a note by visiting our website www.twoimmigrants.com 

We are excited to have our first guest on the show, so much so that we forgot to stick to a specific topic. Well, maybe we did to a small extend. But overall we wanted our guest to speak and talk about his immigration story, what he imagined America to be, and now that he has lived here for nearly thirty years, was it worth coming here. Does he find America to be what he hoped she would be? So we're free forming this episode and talking around a few issues. But isn't that what we normally do anyway? 

We might be reaching here in this episode, but hey, it's just our opinion. We believe that our collective efforts to maximize profits for industry has lead to bad food, bad-for-you drinks, and overall minimization of quality for maximization of profits. Who pays the price for this greediness? It's the poor! The poor in this country tend to buy the cheapest food/drinks simply because it's what the pocketbook can afford. Along with this comes all the health problems associated with eating unhealthy foods, full of chemicals and little to no real nutrition. Compound this with the lack of proper/affordable healthcare in America, and you have the perfect recipe for disaster...for poor people. I don't we're stretching the truth here. What do you think? 

The Trump organization was recently convicted of crimes. In this episode we talk about this and other crimes that seem to be commonplace for those in power. Even though we have explored the American justice system and how it can be for sale, and best serves the rich and famous, there is always room to continue to talk about these inequities ailing the poor in this country. These ailments, regrettably, are not noticed by the very people who vote to put the same politicians in power, year after year. We seem to have drunk the proverbial cool aid and often are distracted by feel-good issues that play on our emotions and/or religious beliefs (such as abortion for one). Through little fault of our own, we're distracted by media hype of inconsequential issues, where behind our backs the real wealth of the American people are being stolen and squandered. There doesn't seem to be an end in sight! 

In this episode we explore road rage and how Jerry and I as youngster did some things that we're probably not very proud of; but road rage is not unique to us. In fact it could be deadly and it has serious consequences. If you suffer from this "anger"...because lets face it, that what it is...then please seek some help and deal with the anger issue. I wish I had that opportunity and that advice when I was in my early twenties. 

As Americans we tend to think of common courtesies that might be normal to people in other countries, uncommon for us. The only person that should open a car door for you is the valet. We don't always like to shake hands. We have huggers and non huggers, weak hand shakes, and non verbal ques that we give each other that are often unfriendly to say the least and sometimes the opposite of courteous. We don't understand why people bow, kiss a hand or a cheek, and should not call their elders by their first names. It is what it is! What do you consider courteous and what do you teach your children? 

Believe or not some immigrants, like us, agree with some of your ideas. SOME, not all of it. For example, we too believe that there are some immigrants who not only take advantage of the systems built into our government (such as Medicaid perhaps), but also take advantage of other immigrants. A good example of that is probably your average office cleaning crew. There may be one immigrant who may be bilingual, that gathers a 'crew of cleaners', most of whom do not speak English, and create a "company" that offers cleaning services, and then take a cut of the paychecks as the go-between for "owning" the company. While there are certainly legitimate such companies who pay fair wages, but often there are less reputable ones who take advantage of other immigrants and their lack of language skills, work permits, visa, and other such shortcomings. To say our immigration system is broken is a gross understatement. The span of its brokenness is wide and not as simple as politicians make it out to be.