R
rdean
Guest
Over 30 years ago when I worked out in the factory, the company hired a couple of South Vietnamese because the company got money from the government since these guys were basically refugees.
The Government gave them an apartment the government paid for, food subsidies, paid their lights and gas.
So one of the guys started going to the University and was taking the same engineering program I was taking. We graduated at the same time. The government paid for his education and even with the GI Bill (I'm a veteran), I still owed $56,000.
Then one day we were out on the floor and he started talking about what a great country this is. His family and a couple of other refugee families put their money together and bought a shopping center. And he talked about all the money his family and the other families got from the government that allowed them to do this and how they all now have their own houses and blah blah blah. The other people on the floor started looking pissed. So I told him he needs to shut up. And I told him this country doesn't help people that were born here like that. So you telling everyone how you got over and they have to work so hard for much less than what you got is creating hard feelings. So he shut up.
So a couple of years later we both graduated. I became an engineer and he became an international service technician since he spoke English, passable Chinese and Korean, and Vietnamese.
I never really thought about it because I'm a firm believer in "hard work has it's own rewards".
Then, a couple of years ago, a friend of mine came over with a friend of his who had been a refugee from Serbia (I think he said Serbia). He talked about getting an apartment in Chicago on Lakeshore Drive paid by the government and the government paid for his electric and gas.
And then a little bit ago, someone was talking on TV about ME refugees who were stopped and someone was saying, we have a house all ready for them.
While I have a problem with what Trump is doing, I also have a problem with refugee's getting unlimited free stuff. How to tone that down, I don't know. But I also know there is a limit.
While I never asked for anything and have never been in jail, when I was a teen and working at a restaurant as a bus boy, once in a while, I didn't eat for one of the two days off because I didn't have any money. a buck sixty five an hour is not much, even back then. And like I said, I went into the military, used the GI bill to become an engineer and paid off $56,000 in debt and was able to retire early since I don't reach 66 for a few more years.
I don't believe it right to be envious. But what about "fair"?
I think our leadership needs to examine what it means to be an American. Helping refugees is all fine and good, but how far do we go? My friend that brought his Serbian friend over had a heart attack and needed surgery. He lost everything he had during the Bush administration and he was only in his forties. He asked me how he could work so hard for so many years and have refugees come in and get so much and got very little help. Food stamps and a medical welfare card.
So yea, what Trump is doing is wrong. But at the same time. we need to reform our refugee system. Sometimes too much is just too much. How to figure that out, I don't know. But I also know it needs work.
The Government gave them an apartment the government paid for, food subsidies, paid their lights and gas.
So one of the guys started going to the University and was taking the same engineering program I was taking. We graduated at the same time. The government paid for his education and even with the GI Bill (I'm a veteran), I still owed $56,000.
Then one day we were out on the floor and he started talking about what a great country this is. His family and a couple of other refugee families put their money together and bought a shopping center. And he talked about all the money his family and the other families got from the government that allowed them to do this and how they all now have their own houses and blah blah blah. The other people on the floor started looking pissed. So I told him he needs to shut up. And I told him this country doesn't help people that were born here like that. So you telling everyone how you got over and they have to work so hard for much less than what you got is creating hard feelings. So he shut up.
So a couple of years later we both graduated. I became an engineer and he became an international service technician since he spoke English, passable Chinese and Korean, and Vietnamese.
I never really thought about it because I'm a firm believer in "hard work has it's own rewards".
Then, a couple of years ago, a friend of mine came over with a friend of his who had been a refugee from Serbia (I think he said Serbia). He talked about getting an apartment in Chicago on Lakeshore Drive paid by the government and the government paid for his electric and gas.
And then a little bit ago, someone was talking on TV about ME refugees who were stopped and someone was saying, we have a house all ready for them.
While I have a problem with what Trump is doing, I also have a problem with refugee's getting unlimited free stuff. How to tone that down, I don't know. But I also know there is a limit.
While I never asked for anything and have never been in jail, when I was a teen and working at a restaurant as a bus boy, once in a while, I didn't eat for one of the two days off because I didn't have any money. a buck sixty five an hour is not much, even back then. And like I said, I went into the military, used the GI bill to become an engineer and paid off $56,000 in debt and was able to retire early since I don't reach 66 for a few more years.
I don't believe it right to be envious. But what about "fair"?
I think our leadership needs to examine what it means to be an American. Helping refugees is all fine and good, but how far do we go? My friend that brought his Serbian friend over had a heart attack and needed surgery. He lost everything he had during the Bush administration and he was only in his forties. He asked me how he could work so hard for so many years and have refugees come in and get so much and got very little help. Food stamps and a medical welfare card.
So yea, what Trump is doing is wrong. But at the same time. we need to reform our refugee system. Sometimes too much is just too much. How to figure that out, I don't know. But I also know it needs work.