The Green Card Lottery

So I step into a cab last night and say hello to the cab driver as I'm getting in. He was of the friendly driver variety, big smile and a "how's it going?" attitude in his speech as I told him where I needed to go. You never know if you're going to get a guy in a shitty mood when you get into a cab in Chicago, you can usually tell right away if they feel like having a conversation or if they feel like staring dead straight in silence. But this guy was different from other cab drivers, he was of middle-eastern descent (that's not so different) however he was wearing a button down shirt and tie.

"I know you," he says. "You were in my cab before. I remember you". Suprised. "Really?" I say. "When?" "Last week, I picked you up after a Cubs game with two girls". Having not gone to a Cubs game, I said, "You must have me mixed up with another guy, haven't been to a Cubs game this season, but at least were the girls good looking who were with the guy that looks like me?" He insisted. He picked me up. "You work in Television, you are a Producer and you moved here from somewhere. You were talking about going to college in Florida". Freaked me out a bit, was this a mystic psychic cab driver? Finally, we figured it out. Some friends who I hadn't seen since college stopped through Chicago last week on a road trip (thank Facebook for that reunion, although I still somewhat despise social networking, but one has to adapt) and we went up to Weiner Circle, a hot dog joint in Lincoln Park kinda close to Wrigley Field. The mystery was solved. But still, what's the chance of having the same cab driver in a city of 3 million people twice in the same week? Especially one with such a good memory. This was a particularly interesting guy as it turned out to be.

He is Iranian and told me how he had first moved to Chicago in 1976, but returned to Iran during the Revolution of '79 to make sure his family was safe, and wasn't allowed to come back here until 2006. Do you know how he was able to come back here? He won the lottery. Yes, in Iran there is a lottery every year to choose who is allowed to get a green card to go and work in America. I had no clue. I wish I can win the lotto here so I can never have to work for someone else again and do what I want to do for the rest of my life. In Iran, they wish they can win so they can move away to a place thousands of miles away (and family to keep in mind, his 27 year old son is still there whom he hasn't seen in three years) to make practically minimum wage driving a cab around the city twelve hours a day. What he likes about America so much? It's open-minded and you can say what you want. Amazing. He is a good driver too, got me there safe and provided great conversation. A worker like him is welcome in my country any day. Immigration is a good thing in this jew's opinion.

Hell, another classic 80's sitcom can sum up my thoughts on Immigration. Here.