People talk about the benefits of being an American, and as an American who was homeless and hungry out on the streets of Los Angeles for two years, I can tell you, the benefits are not that great. Back then it was even against the law to feed the hungry people in Los Angeles, I had to eat people's left-overs at restaurants and stuff. I showered at the Beverly Hills free clinic, and I did laundry at the laundromat. I got a job working for minimum wage, first doing landscaping in Beverly Hills, and then I got a job as a valet/doorman working for Suzanne Pleshette at a condo highrise, but I never earned enough money to rent an apartment, I had to live in my pickup truck.
That is the reality that the immigrants face when they get here.
And I was born here in America, and my family tree has been in the USA since the beginning. I have people in my family tree from Kentucky, Colorado, Oregon, Indiana, Arkansas, etc, and I am a third generation Californian.
I went to school here in the USA, and I always did well. Then I went to AVC, and the AADA.
I managed a dog kennel for six years, so I have experience as a manager. I worked at NASA, and I worked at China Lake, working with an independent contractor, and I had a security clearance. I worked at Universal Studios, I worked at the Broadway department store, I worked at a casino in Nevada, I was a hot air balloon crew, plus I did charity work with the Burbank YMCA, and Youth For Christ, and other stuff. I never missed a day of work on any job, and every penny was always accounted for.
So, even with all of that, I was out there homeless and hungry.
Just imagine coming here to the USA from another country and trying to make it.
The only way that the immigrants can make it is by working together as a team. See, I was a stupid RUGGED INDIVIDUALIST, and I thought that I could help myself and that I did not need help from anyone. We are tribal, and we need other people. I had to humble myself and accept help, and now I also try to help other people. The people who are already here need to help the new immigrants, and everyone needs to work together as a team, and the new immigrants can then help others as they arrive.
When I came to Orange County and told a doctor that I was homeless, they put me in a million dollar house here in Anaheim. One of my roommates was a studio executive at Paramount, and at Universal, and he worked on "Family Ties" and other shows. Then, they showed me the benefits of being an American, I started receiving checks, and I received great medical care and psychotherapy, and my friend Lisa who owned the house told me that I would never be homeless and hungry again, as long as she is alive.
The immigrants need to work together as a team. They need to share housing, they need to let each other know where the jobs are, etc, etc, etc, they need to make sure that everyone has food, etc, etc, etc.
And I have posted these links before, if you work together as a team then you all rise, the Persian Jews came to Los Angeles and went straight to the top, and even made a Persian Jew the Mayor of Beverly Hills. I was homeless in Beverly Hills, and these guys come in and one of their own becomes Mayor.
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The Persian Conquest
https://www.wmagazine.com/story/persian-beverly-hills-2------------
Persian Jews, Wikipedia page...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Jews-----------------
History of the Iranian Americans in Los Angeles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Iranian_Americans_in_Los_Angeles---------
Iranian Jews Find a Beverly Hills Refuge
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-02-13/local/me-543_1_beverly-hills-----------------------
IRANIAN JEW ELECTED BEVERLY HILLS MAYOR
http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Iranian-Jew-elected-Beverly-Hills-mayor-----------------------------
If you work together as a team, then you can rise to the top.
And I support LABOR UNIONS, globally.
I have learned, and when I was homeless I should have been selling copies of my poetry book instead of starving. I could have been selling my poetry book on Hollywood Blvd. Or selling my book door to door. You can make an honest dollar by writing.
I was mailing out headshots and resumes the whole time, hoping to get acting work. You can go from being a bum to being a millionaire in no time in the entertainment industry. And even the soap "The Young and the Restless" starts actors out at thirty thousand dollars per week. But, I could not even get auditions. You need an agent, and I did not have an agent.
Anyhow, the new immigrants need to help each other. They are not going to make it by being rugged individualists.
When you are out there hungry and homeless, you feel powerless. You feel like the whole world hates you, and that maybe you must have been a horrible person in a past life. You need to get around other people, who will love you and make you feel better about yourself. Like my friend Lisa, she is so loving. You need to get around other good people, and let them help you. And you help other people as you are able.
I helped an uncle to get clean from heroin, and got him into his own apartment, so as I was able I helped others, but then he overdosed and died in my apartment. But, the main thing is that you do all that you can to help other people. It was better that he died here with me, in a loving environment, than out there on the streets or in prison.
In conclusion of this long post... Sometimes it is hard here in the USA, even with all of the blessings that the USA provides, it is not easy for the new immigrants, and there are things that we can do to make it easier on all of us. We need to humble ourselves, and let us help each other, and let us love each other, and we can make everything better.
Just imagine if we actually had a guy in the White House who was one of us.
Salute,
Tony V.
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