Before I get into today's blog, I want to thank all the people who have read my last post and encouraged me to continue on. I especially appreicated my friend B's comment. I know it's not easy to openly talk about things this personal, and I'm really grateful that he shared his thoughts. I'm sure everyone has lost someone in their lives, and although we all have our own ways of grieving, it helps to open up to other people. I've held my feelings inside for a decade, and nothing good came of it. I know now that it's nothing to be ashamed of, sharing my feelings doesn't make me weak! I hope more people will open up and share their experiences.
So today was rather hectic. One of my dad's old business partner/investor/friend just came with his wife and daughter from China. His daughter is starting school next week at U of D and we are helping them settle in. So while my mom was working during the day, I took the family around and did a lot of errands. But let me tell you people, I never realized how hard it is to start a life here until now. Sure, I've helped others making the transition after moving here from China, but they all had help before from agencies prior to coming here. With his family, everything had to be set up from ground zero. The goals today were to get her a cell phone and a labtop, open a bank account, and shop for a car. Well, we only managed to accomplish the first one, and they took half day's time!! You would be amazed at how hard it is to start any kind of service in this country without a SSN.
First, we went to the Apple store to get the phone and computer, but they couldn't start a new cellular service for my friend because she only has a passport as identification. So we went to the AT&T store. The sales person had to call customer service to varify account information in order to take the $500 deposit, since she doesn't have a SSN. After we waited over half an hour, they said there was a TWO hour turnover time to varify her information (as if they could call the Chinese embassy to varify her identity!). So finally, we were fed up with the complicated process, and I offered to have her set up in my existing account. No. Problem. Then we went on our merry way to the bank. We found out that she couldn't open an account without a bill to varify her local address. They need at least two utility bills to prove her residency, or have a government issued driver's licence or ID. That became a whole other problem... because she is staying at our house until middle of July, and there is no way we could transfer utility service under her name, so HOW do these people expect her to prove her residency? The lady suggested we go get her a State ID. I don't know what she was smoking, but if we didn't even have enough documentation to open a bank account, we definitely don't have enough to get an ID. It was Catch 22.
I was already discouraged beyond believe at this point, and hoping that shopping for a car would be easy since she already knew what kind of car she wanted. We went from Porsche, her original choice, to Audi, to BMW, to Benz. And at the end of the day, she is now left with more choices than she bargained for. I've always thought life would be easy being rich, but apparently, nothing is easy these days.
Honestly, I don't remember how my mom and I managed when we first came here. Thanks to people from the Chinese-American center, who were kind enough to offer support and help. But I do remember that things were a lot less complicated back then. There was no such a thing as a $500 deposit to start cell phone service, and the bank was more than willing to open an account as long as there is money to be put in. Now everything has a "security varification" incorporated in the process. I guess it's a protective measure to ensure there is no fraudulent activities, but it makes things so much harder for newcomers. I had to tell them "It's not that Americans are not welcoming you, it's all for your own protection!"
I hope things will go a lot more smooth in the next couple of days. I owe these people a lot more than just my help. They were there for my dad when he started his business, and they were there for my mom and I when we lost everything. So keep your fingers crossed for me!!
Until tomorrow.
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