All four of my grandparents heard that, in America, the streets are paved with gold, and all four of them made their way here between 1904 and 1914. Had they not, they and their children would have perished in the Holocaust and I never would have been born.
Different kind of “gold” now, unfortunately. Back then it was the dignified gold of wide open opportunities. Now it’s filthy welfare lucre.
Good point! I think what worked then, when the country was being built, isn’t the same now and for the most part attitudes have changed. Most of those people were very self-sufficient and were looking for opportunity and freedom. I have a boss from Africa and when he came here the government people couldn’t believe it when he turned down welfare. What he did instead is work two jobs, put himself through school and for many years now he has held a very good position at a Fortune 500 company. He is proud of this and for good reason.
I am glad your grandparents made it here. On my mother’s side I have mostly British ancestors who came here before we were a country - the hard working lives they had are amazing to read about and it’s difficult to imagine people today, other than SEALS maybe, doing what they did. On my father’s side we have Mexicans - but my father and his father were born in the US. I have a Dutch brother in law and despite being married to my sister and having a PhD - it wasn’t all that easy to get him in.
The two parents in this story both had jobs so I give them that, although they were cheating the system obviously, but to expect their 12 year old daughter to make her way here like that??? It’s impossible for me to understand.