I met this Vietnamese lady somewhere. I bought from her things that were so cheap I made a fortune reselling them. I paid her double what others would pay for the items, and I got so enamored with her carisma and down to earth attitude. Both her and her husband are immigrants, being here from the 80’s when the refugee program allowed them to come to America to compensate those who helped the American army in their failed attempt to defeat the VC.
Both have worked so hard, they own a home, and in their effort to make it useful and fit to their needs, they installed a kind of covered isle on the side of their home. Imagine the side of your home where the gutters collect the water from the rain. There, they extended it to about 3 feet, including windows so the sun rays would get into their aisle so they could see their way in or out.
I’ve visited her a few times, and in her conversations she told me about her neighbor. They had a discussion one day about who would pay for the falling fence dividing their property. The neighbor, very adamant about paying didn’t say anything, nor he wanted to pay anything for the fence. So, out of their pocket they installed a new fence and life went on, so they thought.
Today, I dropped by to give her some items her husband uses in his construction jobs. I can’t pay her back enough what I got from her. I really feel that I took advantage of her, but I knew that if other people would have grabbed a hold of her “things”, she would have gotten nothing out of them. So, I am with a bunch of things on my hands, walked into the famous aisle, or the side of their house, and she hugs me and with a face of disappointment she tells me the city came to inspect her house and told her to take down the overhang that has been there for 20 years. A beautiful carpentry artwork if you ask me. They have until the 15th to do so, or the city will fine them.
No, this is not a discrimination/fight case of Vietnamese against white or black or Hispanic neighbor, it is among Vietnamese people.
So, tomorrow, I will visit some people I know in the city hall. I may pull some strings to stop these people from destroying something that is not hurting anybody but the feeling of one of those treasonous peasants from their/our own country of origin.
Not everything is rosy, nor it seem OK among immigrants, nationalities or races. There’s always that backstabber who feels so much American that wants other noble and peaceful nationals to feel the pain of envy.
Isn’t that right my Vietnamese friend?