The other evening I was sitting outside at The Coffee Rush Café enjoying the evening storm on the lake in Chandler. Some folks were looking to sit under the roof and I offered to share my table. They were from Bulgaria.
Approximately 3,000 Bulgarians are in Phoenix; however, I seriously question their level of acculturation. In the words of President Theodore Roosevelt, America is not to be a polyglot boarding house but that is what we have become!
I have travelled extensively and remember Bulgaria rather well although I was there before Ceauşescu oppressed and brutalized that beautiful country next door—Romania. Of course, the Bulgarians do not think Romania is so beautiful but that is a matter of historic rivalry.
My guests were somewhat rude. Only one would address me in English. I don’t know their language but one would think they would attempt to converse a little under the circumstances of sharing my table in extremely cramped quarters. Eventually I left; I felt pushed.
When I meet foreigners I relish the moment and I look forward to engaging and learning from them, but these folks offered little of that. I have lived abroad for years and always look forward to the opportunity to spend time with folks from other countries. Their perspectives are always enriching if not eye opening. This time it was eye opening.
To get a conversation going with these folks I had to be proactive even though they were practically sitting on my lap. In retrospect, it was my table and because my table was the only table outside clearly posted “No Smoking” perhaps they were waiting for me to leave so they could light up.
Having had my first cigarette at 8 and quitting finally at age 23 after many failed attempts to cease smoking, I understand how difficult going without tobacco can be. Come to think of it, I recommenced smoking during that trip to Bulgaria! But I digress.
I opened with common rapport building questions and found out the fellow has been in America for 10 years. He is a “businessman” associated with the local State educational system. That sounded like an oxymoron.
Since, he’d come from abroad seeking a better life here for him and his family, I asked him what he thought about Obama and the change in America. He shrugged smugly, “Oh, I think it’s a good thing. This change.”
What he doesn’t appreciate and most foreigners coming here fail to appreciate is that although it may seem we are changing to become more like where they come from and what they are familiar with, they fail to recognize that they were drawn here for a set of reasons. That set of reasons has to do with our identity and who America is and what America stands for.
Alas, they fail to realize they are pushing US to change to become like those countries they left and often abandoned in order to better themselves. They fail to see how those changes are going to make America unattractive and America might not be able to offer the opportunities that drew them here.
This is a sad irony. It reminds me of the Aesop’s fable “The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg.” Truly, Obama and his administration (and those secret society bastards behind his throne!) are bringing Obamanomics here for a reason:
To destroy US,
To purposely kill we who lay the golden eggs!
And out of envy and out of jealously those outsiders among US applaud our “change” and our destruction. They seek our demise in order to bring US down to their level.
If we do not watch out it will soon be too late for US to act,
To Wake Up and Take America Back!