When you live at the bottom of the society like I am living now, please choose to live in a more developed country. I am taking advantage of most of the public services right now. I take buses to work. I take metro to museums downtown (at least some recreation is free of charge, kind of!). I go to a community health clinic for vaccination and some other services. If you only see America through television or movies, you would probably have seen only wealthier people who have their family doctor, own a big house, drive a fancy car (or cars), and go on vacations overseas more than once a year. Well, the America I have seen and experienced is not just that!
Going to those public services places mentioned above, you will see more than that. Many people live on minimum wage or lower. They work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Still they cant afford to own a car. They rent a room or an apartment. They do not have insurance of any type to cover their medical expenses. They are possibly barely able to pay their bills already. When you live on food stamps, you cant care further than food and the very essentials. Before going to these places, I thought I would only see non-majority people. I was true, partly. Most of the people I see are Hispanic, Asian, and African. It however surprises me that there are a few white (non-Hispanic) people. It is also a "duh" because obviously not all white people are wealthier.
A lesson learned is that this is a cheaper America and I am living it.
Your mission is to "Study the Big Picture." It was the same for me when I decided to throw myself into such a homogeneous society as that of Viet Nam, or Korea, or Japan. It's the ability to adapt that matters and the matter of the adaptability is made more easily when the mind and eyes are opened wide to all possibilities. America is still the society of Dreamers in constant evolution toward "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness!" You have the opportunity to learn much and you have youth in your favor. - Anh Cuong
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