It was very early in the morning here on the west coast. We got a phone call from a relative who told us to turn on the TV.
I have a son-in-law who was born in Iran and was brought here (legally) by his parents when he was a small child. He doesn't even speak with an accent. He was scheduled to be sworn in as a citizen that day. He and I worked together selling cars and we had both taken the day off to go to San Francisco for the swearing in ceremony. He had worked very hard at this and we were all very proud of him.
He wanted to cancel the trip, because he was worried it might not be a good day to be named Mohammed and be out in public. He was in high school when the hostages were taken in Iran and he said he had to fight his way through school every day. I told him bullshit, this is a great day to pick a side and make it official, so off we went. It was about a three hour trip. About halfway there, as we were listening to the news on the radio they announced the closure of all federal buildings, and were considering shutting down the Golden Gate bridge, which we would have to cross.
So we turned around and came home, stopping for a nice lunch along the way. The swearing in was rescheduled for a few weeks later and he became a citizen.
|