Dr. Shellie

Seated to my right, in the aisle seat, was a 50-ish year old man with what I thought was a British accent. He looked with some interest at the journal article I was reading. "Are you a scientist?" he asked. "What do you study?" I tried to give him the brief and interesting version, but he looked a little bored. "How long have you been studying that?" he asked.

"Hmm… over 12 years, if you include undergrad," I answered.

"My daughter just finished her medical training and is getting a real job," he said. "We’re very proud of her." (I tried to explain how a postdoc is a real job–we get paid– but he wasn’t buying it.) After telling me where his kids went to school, we got into a discussion of the US educational system and culture in general.

As it turns out, he was not from the UK. He and his wife, both Afrikaaners (Dutch-speaking, white South Africans) had immigrated here over 20 years ago, at the beginning of the South African race riots. Proudly he pointed out his US citizenship and praised the American way of life. "My kids have done great here," he said. "The US system is fantastic. You go to college, get your degree, and you can get the entire package– they have jobs, own a home, and have a nice life. This is really the best country on earth. Look at it. Everything works. You came to the airport today, you went through security, you got on the plane– the plane flies. It’s not broken. It’ll get you to your destination. The last time we went to South Africa, we flew in early in the morning, and the customs staff just wasn’t there. We walked into the country without showing anyone our passports. It was too early in the morning, and they just hadn’t bothered to show up for work."

He went on to say that FIFA was crazy– "they think they’re going to have the World Cup there in 4 years? With the crime in South Africa? All the fans will get carjacked, mugged, or killed."

But most interesting was his perspective on Mexican and Latin American immigration, a mix of conservative and progressive strains. "Something has to be done," he said. "They’re flooding the schools where we live in Arizona. And by law, you can’t turn them away." I asked what he thought about the proposal to build a fence on the border, as well as Bush’s guest worker program. He was in full support of both. "I hire Mexicans to work for me in my landscaping business," he said. "I’ve tried hiring white Americans, but let’s face it, it’s hot outside. They can’t take it. And anyway, for an American to be in the situation where he wants to that kind of work, something must have gone very wrong– either he’s a felon, or mentally unstable, or alcoholic. Mexicans work hard. And let me tell you, their kids learn English, and are going to grow up to be successful. They aren’t going to be working for someone like me. And that’s fantastic– that’s the American Dream!"