Dr. Gym ( his pseudonym) is a very kind man. I asked if I could interview him for a school assignment, and he happily agreed. We scheduled the interview for Sunday evening at our workplace, a movie theater.

Since we cannot conduct the interview during our working hours which happened to match, we decided to wait until our break to do the interview. The location was the employee break room.

The break room is not very popular because the employees prefer watching movies during their break instead of staying there. As a result, the break room is always empty and quiet.

The room was painted in white. And everything else in the room was also white, except us. All employees are required to wear a black uniform:  a black T-shirt, black pants, and black shoes. We pulled two chairs from the table and placed them at the back of the room, and we sat facing each other.

Dr. Gym and I are very similar in many aspects, but the biggest factor that led us to be friends was language. We both share French as our native language. I always speak in French when conversing with Dr. Gym. In fact, I can count with one hand the number of conversations I had with him in English. This is one of the reasons i choose to conduct the interview in French. The other reason was that Dr. Gym is not fluent in English.

Dr. Gym was very enthusiastic about the interview and that made me very happy. He told me about his childhood in Haiti. How he only went to private schools, how he had his own personal driver and how his parents gave him too much pocket money.  He sounded very happy and proud while telling me this. I sarcastically asked him if he grew up as a rich kid and he replied: “pretty much.”

I laugh at his reply because I could relate. My parents also gave me an extravagant amount of money as pocket money every week instead of lunch. As a result, all of my friends started seeing me as a rich kid.

Dr. Gym told me during the follow up after the interview, that “coming here was not that hard.” He already had his passport and the money for a visa. He told me that after his parents divorced, he wanted to have a good job so he could take care of his mother and sister. He got a job as a supervisor in a telecommunication agency back in Haiti after graduating from university. But, he wanted something better that will let him give a better life to his mother and sister. He decided to come to the U.S because he has many family members here from his mother’s side that could support him, shelter him while he is looking for a job. He told me that his mother and sister were very happy about his decision.  I asked him if he told his father about coming here and he answered “No. I did not tell him.” I have come to understand that Dr. Gym does not like talking about his father. His mood always changes to a sad one every time he talks about his dad. He told me,” I respected my dad since he provided for the family, but I did really not like him.”Dr. Gym sister told me that Dr. Gym has not spoken with his father for more than six years now. Every time she tries to talks about their father, he will always get angry.

Even before coming here, Dr. Gym already knew what he wanted to do. He had a degree in electrical engineering and was hoping to get a job with it. Unfortunately, the government told him he cannot not use that diploma here. They said he needed to go back to college and get a new one.

This was no new information for me. Dr. Gym has told me about this story countless times. And every time, you could feel his anger and frustration. He never imagined that coming here was going to be such a setback.

While already knowing the answer, I asked him why he cannot go back to school and get a new degree. He answered saying ” you know I am married now right? How do you want me to support my mother, wife, and child if I decide to go back to school? I just gave up on the idea. I just hope they change that stupid system.”

Dr. Gym thought coming here was going to change something in his life for the better. But even after coming here, he is still at the same “level” if not lower then he was back in Haiti.  You could see that Dr. Gym was very disappointed in America and in himself. He grew up in a rich family, went to a good university, and worked as a manager at a telecommunication Agency but now, he works as an Uber taxi driver and a supervisor in a movie theater. He barely has enough to take care of himself and his family back home.

My parents initially wanted me to come here after I graduated from university but, my grandfather objected and said it was a bad idea. If it was not for my grandfather, I would probably be in Dr. Gym’s situation right now. One of Dr. Gym’s wishes is for someone to change that policy and make it more forgiving to immigrants because,  Not everyone has the luxury to go back to school.