Following Fievel

"The American Dream" is a phrase that, depending on the context, is either accompanied by a deep sigh and eye roll, or a catch of breath and poignant tear. It is sardonically applied to cosmetic surgery stats and deeply felt by first generation immigrants. Some days, here in the middle of America, it feels like a slow, 40 year march of cubicle days, performance evals and delayed gratification, weighing heavily on a mind that is trying to feel thankful while hitting the snooze button.

By all measures, I am a lucky person. And for me, "The American Dream" is an every day reality. And because it is my reality, on any given day, I take it for granted. But on any given day, something strikes me and I am reminded of how lucky I am to be a part of this place and this dream, with all of it's complex variations.

CBS has a new show out called Undercover Boss, in which CEOs of large corporations go out in the trenches to see what's really going on at the different levels of their operations. In one episode the CEO of 7-Eleven spends time with an overnight delivery man, an immigrant from Kazakhstan. He was cracking jokes, smiling, and by all accounts, thrilled with his life. He is living his American Dream.

Every March, America is overcome with Madness. Sure, not everyone cares, but the Madness is about as American as it gets. We thrive on the cinderellas, the rags to riches, the upsets that should never happen, and yet, sometimes do. This year is no different. Yesterday the overall #1 seed was knocked out in the second round by a #9 seed. And the man who sealed the victory was the son of an Iranian immigrant. His father played on the Iranian volleyball team in the 1980 Olympics, moved to America and married Cindy, from Iowa. Their son, Ali, probably had his last name mangled by more elementary and middle school teachers than he can remember, and yet now, every basketball fan in America knows it.

Relations between nations are, to say the least, complex. And often we only form impressions of other countries based on news clips and sound bytes. If you asked the average American citizen to give you their opinion on Iran, I doubt it would involve basketball. If you mention Kazakhstan, they'll point you in the direction of Borat. However, hopefully I am not the only person in America who takes note of the two examples above and will pause for a second to dig a little deeper into the dynamics and interactions that make all of this possible. And perhaps I am not the only person who finds themselves humbled when relatively recent transplants to this country so clearly remind us of what it means to be American and to daily live the dream.


As a disjointed side note:
Perhaps my sister summarized it best in a text she sent after researching Ali Farokhmanesh: "Persians are legit; just wish we could make that country not crazy."

We will always hope.




Here's a link to the clip from Undercover Boss:
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/undercover_boss/video/?pid=ExY7K9Rr_nm3SXYTOc5_N5odN1O6Ko1o&vs=Clips&play=true

And a link to an interesting column on Ali Farokhmanesh and his performance against Kansas:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/366387-farokhmaneshd-northern-iowas-shrewd-conquerer