Along the Boarder

Yesterday was turning out to be unpromising until we hit the piss. I didn't even want to drink a whole lot but when you go to four different bars, the chances of you buying a drink greatly increases. Again, the day was very dull with not much happening - laundry, coffee, crossword puzzles - and even the evening was looking like it was going to be uneventful until we got to the last bar. I rolled up and sat down to order a drink. Next to me was a man in his early to mid thirties wearing a wool shirt and corduroy pants. "Look, they've got Bombay," I said to my friend, pointing at the bottle of gin. The guy next to me who was obviously drinking gin and tonics overhears my comment, turns and says, "You're right. They do have Bombay, and they know how to make a good drink with it."

His name was Michael. After serving in Peace Corps Samoa, he landed a job with the US government using his noncompetitive status he earned by serving in the Peace Corps. He works for the department of homeland security as a refugee officer, traveling to refugee camps around the world interviewing potential American citizens that will relocate in the United States. I sat with Michael and fired question after question at him for more than an hour. At one point, I had to ask if anything we were discussing was sensitive information and he said, "I wouldn't answer your questions if I was divulging sensitive information." Apparently the United States is the largest relief country, taking over 10,000 refugees last year and possibly even more this year, followed by Australia and I think Switzerland if I remember correctly.

Michael has been working for the the department of homeland security, interviewing refugees in countries all over the world for about three years now. Can you imagine the kinds of things people have told him (or told his interpreter rather, who then relays the information into English)? I don't even want to imagine the horror stories he must have heard in the past three years. I was absolutely awestruck by his occupation. That's the kind of job that makes a person understand. The understanding that the world is not a fair place. The understanding that you can read books, watch movies, or even hear stories, but until you experience these atrocities first hand you will never know what it is like for the have-not's. The understanding that people all over the world, people just like you, people just like me, live at levels that are far more grave than our own. It makes me feel greedy. I realize opportunity is unfair, dependent on countless variables from the moment you are born but I can't help but think, "What if?" Ask yourself, what if you were the refugee Michael was interviewing?

What if?