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'This Is the American Dream!': Cuban Immigrant Goes Viral After Opening His First U.S. Paycheck
mrctv.org ^ | December 4, 2022 | BRITTANY M. HUGHES

Posted on 12/05/2022 11:14:39 PM PST by lowbridge

If you needed a little good news for the holidays - and proof that the American dream still exists, for those willing to reach for it - here it is.

A Cuban UPS driver has gone viral after his wife posted a video showing him gushing over his first paycheck in the United States.

Before immigrating to the U.S., Yoel Diaz was a computer science teacher in Cuba making about $12 a month, so little he could barely afford enough food to eat.

“Water, water, water, five, ten eggs, water,” Diaz said, describing the totality of the contents of his fridge back in his birth country.

After meeting his wife, a Cuban-American named Marissa, Diaz moved to Phoenix on a K-1 visa (given to those engaged to be married to a U.S. citizen) and got a work permit and a job at UPS, which he just started in October. And, after several weeks, he got his first paycheck - which amounted to exponentially more than he’d have made in Cuba in a year.

"This is my first hourly paycheck that I feel every hour counted, that every hour of work has importance in my life and that I know I can work hard for something," Diaz said in the video. "I can't compare that emotion with anything, because I never had that in my country."

"I prefer this to Fidel Castro," he added. "Fidel took more. Communism took more."

(Excerpt) Read more at mrctv.org ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: communism; cuba
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1 posted on 12/05/2022 11:14:39 PM PST by lowbridge
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To: lowbridge

That’s sweet. America used to mean more to immigrants from Communist countries than $$$. I guess that is all that is left here now.


2 posted on 12/05/2022 11:17:21 PM PST by PghBaldy (12/14/12 - 930am -rampage begins... 12/15/12 - 1030am - Obama team scouts photo-op locations.)
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To: lowbridge

Congratulations, Mr. Diaz!


3 posted on 12/05/2022 11:32:30 PM PST by Tired of Taxes
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To: Tired of Taxes

This reminds me of how much more Ugandan-Americans appreciate America than do African Americans.


4 posted on 12/06/2022 12:22:53 AM PST by Migraine
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To: lowbridge

I used to assist people with developmental disabilities get regular jobs in the community. There used to be a Minimum Wage Waiver. Some companies were allowed to pay below minimum wage if the worker ‘could not keep up.’ I despised the Waiver and worked to find regular pay jobs. One of my favorite success stories was a young man who was trapped in the sub-minimum wage. He could run all the machines of a gardening / landscaping crew. I found an employer willing to pick him up at home every day (he did not drive). His first real paycheck was much larger than any before. He did see something strange on his pay stub and brought it to my attention. He noticed the gross pay, and then all these other small numbers. I explained the State, Federal, Medicare, etc deductions. I will never forget, as long as I live, his next few words:

‘but that’s my money.’


5 posted on 12/06/2022 12:29:06 AM PST by Ronaldus Magnus III (Do, or do not, there is no try)
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To: Migraine

I’ve heard that Nigerian immigrants are more successful in U.S. than any other group.....


6 posted on 12/06/2022 1:08:46 AM PST by Pigsley (I)
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To: PghBaldy

if you think it’s just money then you’re not getting it.

it represents freedom.

his choice to do what he wants...
to work as hard as he wants...
to achieve his dreams...
without others keeping him down.

that’s a pretty huge deal.

the fact that he gets to keep whatever he buys as it’s his property and he doesn’t have to share it with others...

that’ll be in an upcoming video :)


7 posted on 12/06/2022 1:10:43 AM PST by sten (fighting tyranny never goes out of style)
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To: lowbridge
Does this man know that in the New America making money is nothing but greediness? Just like people who work in business and own companies are driven by greed.

He obviously identifies as a white man and believes he is privileged and superior to people who live off the government teat.

This is the kind of immigrant America (well, the Democrat Party) doesn't want.

8 posted on 12/06/2022 1:18:38 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: PghBaldy

“every hour counted, that every hour of work has importance in my life”


9 posted on 12/06/2022 1:21:03 AM PST by Irenic
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To: Irenic

beautiful words

very hour counted, that every hour of work has importance in my life

worth repeating


10 posted on 12/06/2022 3:15:00 AM PST by SteelPSUGOP
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To: Pigsley

That seems to be a generality that has been observed by many. It is an uncomfortable observation but in the early 20th century someone (I have the reference somewhere) postulated that the intellectual state of the American Negro differs from the Africans because the slaves harvested in Africa were not the cream of the crop (to be generous). Genetics take it from there ...


11 posted on 12/06/2022 3:44:14 AM PST by ByteMercenary (Slo-Joe and KamalHo are not my leaders.)
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To: Ronaldus Magnus III

Good story, though the government doesn’t see things that way.


12 posted on 12/06/2022 4:19:04 AM PST by FamiliarFace (I got my own way of livin' But everything gets done With a southern accent Where I come from. TP)
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To: Ronaldus Magnus III

“‘but that’s my money.’”

So a developmentally disabled person gets it, but Democrats don’t. Hmmm...


13 posted on 12/06/2022 4:58:24 AM PST by MayflowerMadam
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To: lowbridge

Money is the freeloading invader refugees’ “American Dream”. Freedom and liberty don’t mean jack to them. It’s all about the money. “Refugees” my ass.


14 posted on 12/06/2022 5:38:39 AM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Hey Amerika! The whole world is watching and laughing their asses off. )
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To: lowbridge

They have a Youtube channel.

Mima takes Yoel to Costco, to IHOP, to McDonalds, etc., etc.

His reactions are priceless. His amazement and love of America really shines through....

Here’s the video when she got him out of Cuba and into the USA. 12 minutes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8BKKuCVEDM


15 posted on 12/06/2022 6:15:50 AM PST by Alas Babylon! (Gov't declaring misinformation is tyranny: “Who determines what false information is?” )
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To: Ronaldus Magnus III
I will never forget, as long as I live, his next few words: ‘but that’s my money.’

Great story. Brings a tear to my eye...

16 posted on 12/06/2022 6:32:06 AM PST by Tired of Taxes
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To: lowbridge

I was a lad in GITMO back in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Back then, Cubans would come onto the base and work as day laborers: bus drivers, gardeners, maids, etc. Castro would take most of their pay, but it was advantageous because they could eat all their meals on base and their families could eat their rations.

One day a lady who was working as our maid came in crying. The army had gone into their village and used guns to blast off the locks on everyone’s doors. They said no one had the right to lock their doors. After that, anyone could come into the house when they were away and take whatever they wanted.


17 posted on 12/06/2022 6:38:47 AM PST by gitmo (If your theology doesn't become your biography, what good is it?)
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To: Pigsley

Yes, they are go-getters: study hard, find all the best angles.


18 posted on 12/06/2022 7:19:29 AM PST by Migraine
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To: Migraine; Pigsley

My impression has been the same of the small number of black African immigrants I’ve met (mostly from Nigeria - IIRC). They were good people and far better educated than most Americans.

I was sad about what happened to one man, though: He bought the abandoned house connected to a house where I was renting. He started fixing it up to rent it out. He was so excited about his investment... until the locals started breaking in, stealing everything, and vandalizing the place. So, every day, he would work on the property, only to find the place trashed by the next morning.


19 posted on 12/06/2022 7:50:04 AM PST by Tired of Taxes
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To: SteelPSUGOP

Agreed


20 posted on 12/06/2022 8:34:44 AM PST by Irenic
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