Somewhere Else

Overheard in a house in a country not far from here…

"Son, what are you doing?"

"Learning to speak English."

"Why?"

"Because I am taking my family and starting a new life in America."

"Great idea, but why are you bothering to learn English?"

"So that I can teach my children before we go."

"Don't waste your time, the American people pay to to teach your children English."

"But I don't want them to fall behind in school."

"They have English as a second language classes in the schools."

"That will cost too much!"

"It won't cost you anything, the American people pay for it."

"But what if we get sick, we need to find a doctor, and work out a way to pay."

"No need. Hospitals are everywhere, and the healthcare is free!"

"Free?"

"FREE."

"Free for everybody?"

"Of course not. It's free for people who don't have anything. So whatever you do, don't buy a home, or get established! Make what you can, live a simple life and hide the money. Send it to me for safe keeping."

"But what of everything else? If we don't speak the language of America, we surely will be lost."

"The American people pay taxes so that the government can employ thousands of interpreters in every state. All government documents are available in every language known."

"How can the American people afford all of this?"

"They can't! Here's the best part, they're taking retirement benefits from their old people, saying that the benefits are unsustainable! They're cutting health care plans and making them either unaffordable or worthless."

"They do that to their own people while continuing to pay for educating ours? And giving us free healthcare? And spending billions a year to do everything in different languages?"

"Yes, my friend, they do."

"Sounds like a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to become a citizen!"

"You have that right my friend, now go relax, and plan your journey, and go to America and make as much money as you can, then come back home and live like a king while the American people struggle.

"It doesn't seem fair."

"It's not fair, it's the way it is."

o