Two Immigrants & a Mic

Generally speaking! This episode illustrates, if nothing else, the fact that we immigrants have normal conversations that sometimes revolve around nothing but 'campfire' talk. You're really eavesdropping here; see what you might find and let us know your thoughts.

Modern Americans are not known for voting and putting in place a government that works for everyone. This is evident in all things 'American'; from individuals we vote into office, place on the Supreme Court, to those we coddle in big business. We are simply not interested in anything that does not cater to our selfishness. In this episode, as always, we jump around and basically talk about this a...

Since we really didn't get to finish our conversation with our mystery man in the last episode, we decided to have him back with us. Jerry is being a bit pesky and I wonder if any guest would join us due to his ramblings and insulting questions, but at least this guest came back. Let's see what happens! We're glad to have your with us and please let us know what you think. You can drop us a note b...

We are excited to have our first guest on the show, so much so that we forgot to stick to a specific topic. Well, maybe we did to a small extend. But overall we wanted our guest to speak and talk about his immigration story, what he imagined America to be, and now that he has lived here for nearly thirty years, was it worth coming here. Does he find America to be what he hoped she would be? So we'...

We might be reaching here in this episode, but hey, it's just our opinion. We believe that our collective efforts to maximize profits for industry has lead to bad food, bad-for-you drinks, and overall minimization of quality for maximization of profits. Who pays the price for this greediness? It's the poor! The poor in this country tend to buy the cheapest food/drinks simply because it's what the...

The Trump organization was recently convicted of crimes. In this episode we talk about this and other crimes that seem to be commonplace for those in power. Even though we have explored the American justice system and how it can be for sale, and best serves the rich and famous, there is always room to continue to talk about these inequities ailing the poor in this country. These ailments, regretta...

In this episode we explore road rage and how Jerry and I as youngster did some things that we're probably not very proud of; but road rage is not unique to us. In fact it could be deadly and it has serious consequences. If you suffer from this "anger"...because lets face it, that what it is...then please seek some help and deal with the anger issue. I wish I had that opportunity and that advice wh...

As Americans we tend to think of common courtesies that might be normal to people in other countries, uncommon for us. The only person that should open a car door for you is the valet. We don't always like to shake hands. We have huggers and non huggers, weak hand shakes, and non verbal ques that we give each other that are often unfriendly to say the least and sometimes the opposite of courteous....

Believe or not some immigrants, like us, agree with some of your ideas. SOME, not all of it. For example, we too believe that there are some immigrants who not only take advantage of the systems built into our government (such as Medicaid perhaps), but also take advantage of other immigrants. A good example of that is probably your average office cleaning crew. There may be one immigrant who may b...

Christmas traditions around the world vary. Here in the United States we've lost touch with what the season really means. Did you know that the average dollar spent is $1000USD per person, in this country? I don't know who these 'average Americans' are, but if I had to spend $1000 per person for my family of 6, and get in debt for $6000 during Christmas, that would be the last time I buy presents...

We wanted to kick off our second season after Christmas. But given that some of the content of what we want to talk about is already dated, and will be more so after Christmas, it was best to release at least this episode before the World Cup finals. So here it is...our jaw-flapping about Soccer and the word origins among other things. We hope to start dropping episodes again right after Christmas...

Not unlike many of our episodes, we jump from topic to topic. We discuss spanking a child, a bit religion, and a lot of politics in this episode. Immigrants like us come from varied backgrounds (as you know already) and often times we view the world from different lenses. Much like the rest of the population our diversity of thought is what makes us who we are; after all that's the whole point of...

Here's another episode where Jerry and I start talking about random movies and then somehow tie it to life lessons, American history, and the general misconceptions Americans have about their own fate, their own history, and likely repercussions of repeating it. Jerry and I often spend time talking about 'nothing' in particular and often inevitably it turns into serious conversations. I'm fascinat...

Ed gets a little testy in this episode; a little mad, and maybe even a little absurd. But he has a valid point! The conversation got started fine, but ended up with a testy segment about why should anyone, immigrant or not, be proud of today's America? There's little left to be proud of, and there seems to be little hope in sight that we would ever right this ship we call America. Our politicians...

Here's another example of how we can't stick to one subject. We probably have ourselves in trouble with our wives and with women in general, jumping to other topics from Putin to Cuban Missile Crisis, and back and forth talking general nonsense that only makes sense if you've had a couple of beers. I keep telling Jerry that no one is going to listen to us if we keep doing this, but here you are. I...

Jerry and I debate the merits of going to war as a mercenary, to fight for "freedom" of Ukraine. Is this wise? Are the consequences of such an action thought about and reasoned enough to justify the move? In most cases, we think not! In some cases money might be the motivation, in others, simple pride. But in almost all cases the possibility of getting killed or captured in the process seems to be...

Jerry used to work in a restaurant that sold (and substituted) cheaper cuts of meat for Ribeye steaks and no one was apparently the wiser; no one complained, and the scheme worked for years. Can you tell the difference between different cuts of meats? And if so, would you complain about it to the restaurant management, or wait until you get home and write all about it on your Facebook page? In thi...

Jerry feels that some people that he may have known for many years, perhaps even for a decade or more, are treating him differently now that they know he came to this country illegally. Despite having respect for him as a person, admiring his hard work, ethics, religious beliefs etc., they still seem to have been taken by surprise that he came to the U.S. illegally. They might be treating him stan...

Voting in the Primaries is pointless to a large extent. You have to choose between people within the same party, who just got through telling you (by numerous, annoying TV and radio ads) how bad each of the others are...and why NOT to vote for the 'other' guy. Keep in mind these donkeys run in the same race, under the same ticket. So you're supposed to pick between bad, worse, and worst! That's be...

We tend to jump around topics a bit while talking about tipping in America in this episode. To most Europeans and Australians, the American tipping norms are laughable if not downright a dishonest way to do business. We're conditioned to think that it's ok to "bribe" workers to provide us services that the business owner is naturally providing and profiting from; we're made to feel 'cheap' and unw...

On a whim and nothing more, we started a Podcast and here we are! Our goal was to share with you the thought processes of immigrants and their (our) views on life in these United States. In this episode Jerry and Ed simply talk about why they thought it was a good idea to start a podcast. They tend to make fun of each other, learn from and about each other, and find out how much they may have in c...

In the third, and final part, of this conversation we discover how Jerry gets on the road to becoming a legal citizen of the United States. From his experience with attorneys, to dealing with American medical examiners/practitioners stationed on the Mexico side of the border, to border guards themselves. Jerry's final journey included the hardship his spouse was going through as well as having to...

Jerry's story continues! He tells us how many times he attempted to cross the border, and finally how he was able to make it and go under the radar for the next nearly two decades. His story includes his time in jail, his experience with immigration officers, and those who make a business of helping people illegally cross the border. 

Jerry describes how and why he chose to come to America illegally. He tried to cross the border a total of 3 three times until he was able to successfully blend in to American life. Jerry had the 'illegal' status for several years before he became a US citizen. He describes his journey with a sense of humor and his experience with employers, coyotes, and immigration officers.