An Alien Worker

Ashwini
Ashwini
Aug 31, 2018 · 3 min read

Go to America, they said. You will live comfortably forever, they said. You can buy everything you need from Walmart and Costco. You can subscribe to Netflix and Spotify. The streets are clean and safe, and hot water flows from the tap any time you need it. Houses come equipped with dishwashers. You get fresh salads, fruits and all kinds of fresh vegetables. All the tomatoes are perfectly round and spotless.

There is gender equality in all workplaces. Women are not treated differently from men- they all wear pants. There are roads everywhere and perfect lines of cars that flow smoothly. No honking.

You can call the police on your neighbors if they are loud. Everyone respects everyone else’s privacy.

You can eat bagels and cream cheese, and drink coffees with soy, non-fat, almond, low-fat, half-n-half, coconut and cashew milk.

You can smile at strangers and have them smile back at you.

You can have your “personal space” and have people respect it without asking them.

You can expect strange men to not touch you, insult you or rape you. If they do, you can always expect the law to intervene and punish.

If you work hard, you can buy a cookie cutter house in a tree-lined neighborhood with manicured lawns.

You can pay people to do your nails, hair, feet, nose..and really.. anything you can think of.

You can work in tech, get paid well and work a regular 9–5 job.

In an office with a view.

You can save enough money to buy Gucci bags and Jimmy Choos.

Hey girl! Here’s what they didn’t tell you:

You can live there for several years, decades even, and still not be considered American.

You can never get the smell of spices and curry out of your clothes.

You will be called an “Alien” by the government and the airport officials.

You will always be uncertain of being allowed to re-enter every time you leave the country.

Your heart will beat faster than others at the immigration counter.

You will not get that free coffee or that extra food sample at Costco.

You will be more likely to be persecuted. Imprisoned.

You will be rephrased, interrupted and overlooked.

You will be spoken more clearly to.

Your name will be “pretty” but butchered.

You will not know if and when you will be able to check the “Resident” box on immigration forms.

Every three years you pray to every Hindu god you know, so that your visa renewal will be hassle free.

You will stand in line outside of the US Consulate, early in the morning, with a thick folder that holds all your worth thinking, am I enough?

Life impacting laws will be passed casually. Only you will talk about them. Only you will worry about them.

You worked hard. You are ready to live the American dream. But it is reserved only for Americans now. You are no American.

You don’t know if you will ever be American, although America is home.

Where IS home?

Let’s not go there.

Your parents think you are happy. That you are free.

Only you know that while you look happy and smell rich, you have a splitting headache.

You don’t belong.

You don’t know where you belong.

You feel like a worker and nothing more.

An alien worker in an office with a view.

Alien Workers

Stories of Immigrant Workers in the United States of America

Written by

Ashwini

Free spirit. I don't read productivity articles on principle, and no, I don't want the keys to success. they don't exist.

Stories of Immigrant Workers in the United States of America

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