In the time that I have been writing this blog I have had the chance to meet many aspiring authors. I meet folks on a daily basis that are interested in writing whether it be by hand in a journal or online through a blog. Some have started the process of becoming an online blogger while others just can’t find the time nor the desire to write as much as I do. I began thinking of a way to allow these individuals to write and still be published. That is when I came up with a concept of having a section on my blog of guest bloggers to not only give these people an outlet to his or her opinions but also as a way to share space with friends. What you see below is a collection of guest blog posts from folks all over that have all come together to share their thoughts with you. I have taken the time to edit these posts as I see fit but they are found here as I received them in regards to the content. Take notice to these authors as they might be starting up their own blog before you know it. Enjoy!
Immigration Policy and it’s Effects by Matt Rust
First, let me thank Ricky Potts for giving me the forum to write a guest post. I hope this story finds a lot of people because it is an important one for me to tell. By the time you finish reading this you are sure to think: “Really, I had no idea” or “That doesn’t seem right” and I agree. How could this be? The story I want to tell is a personal one about a particular immigration policy, that still has me reeling with heartache, depression, and disbelief.
It all started in late 2004 when I first met my wife. We worked together and from the first day that I met her I was instantly attracted to her. She was a beautiful young energetic girl from Mexico. I wasn’t sure how good her English was, but I soon found out that it was above average for someone that wasn’t from here. I decided I just had to ask her out. Some how despite being from two totally different places we really connected. After a month we really knew that we had something special and were completely in love.
Somewhere along the line, she had admitted to me that she came to this country illegally. I was kind of astonished, because I wondered how she got a job. Well, I was naïve because now I believe that 90% of Mexicans working in restaurants are illegal from my experience. I was kind of surprised when I learned this, but I didn’t care. I was in love, meeting her was the best thing that ever happened to me and if we ever got married, she could become legal. I had already considered the possibility. My wife was in a different situation than most people like her because she came here as a teenager looking to reconnect with family that basically abandoned her in Mexico. She learned English incredibly fast, she graduated high school, she got a job, she worked hard, and she got her own apartment. She didn’t come here and not learn English, she didn’t get pregnant, and she didn’t end up on welfare, or anything like that. She assimilated into society. So well in fact that years later, many were surprised her status was that of an illegal.
So it was finally decision time, I love her so much and knew despite that it would take a little time and money to become a permanent resident; I knew it was time to get married. We wanted a family and it shouldn’t be too hard should it? To get a green card, one just needs to marry a US citizen. Well it turns out that it is extremely difficult, and a lot more complicated than that.
Proving our marriage is legitimate? That took some time but not too hard. After that we start the visa process to immigrate. Well because it is an illegal situation, she needs to physical return to Mexico and enter the country legally. We are advised that she will go to Mexico, and have an interview at the US Consulate. There is an interview, where she is found to be inadmissible. This is expected because if you have been illegal for more than a year you are banned for ten years! That is ten. That is scary, and is it even worth it? We thought of this but, to wait for immigration reform didn’t seem wise, and really it isn’t right that my wife has to live without a driver’s license, without health insurance (since I can’t add her to mine without a SSN), so yes we felt it was important to do now for our well being. Wow, well is there anything else that we can do.
Turns out, yes, no big deal. All we have to do is apply for a “Waiver of Extreme Hardship”. This is an interview, which was scheduled two months after returning to Mexico. For this I must prove that I am going to experience an “Extreme Hardship” by being separated from my wife. My thought was, “Obviously? Yes of course.” How am I going to pay for everything on my own? I need her to work. Who isn’t a two-income family these days? I assembled some evidence of the financial difficulties that I already had, from paying for the wedding, to being unemployed for an extended period in 2008, and so on. I can’t move to Mexico City, I have a house that I can’t sell, my mom and dad, three siblings, and eleven nieces and nephews all live here. Indiana has always been my home. The standard of living is much worse there, in Mexico City especially, and I have asthma and the air quality is really bad there.
My parents write a letter, my siblings, my wife and I also all write a letter. It more or less says, “Please approve this waiver, so that my pregnant wife and I are not separated”. I provided a lot of financial records, etc. The main issue for me is that we have a kid due in August. I can’t let that child be born in Mexico. What if something goes wrong? We need to do regular prenatal appointments and get quality care. For two months we were confident, everything will be fine and when this is over we can move on with our lives. She can go back to work for four or five months; we can pay off our debt and prepare for our first child. Guess what though? The US couldn’t care less about my needs, or the simple fact that if they don’t approve the waiver that my family and I will be separated for over a year.
Doomsday came. Case referred. Wait…what? What does that mean? It means that either no one had the time to look at our case, or they approved too many cases recently, or that we didn’t prove that I would experience an extreme hardship. The case is referred until a later date. Possibly for longer than twelve months even. Really? Yes. Really. It is unreal that they arbitrarily can toss my case into the “look at this some other time” pile. This is how it works apparently. We have the opportunity to at least send in more proof and documentation for our case until it is reviewed again. So the good news, is that it is not at this juncture a flat out denial.
The government doesn’t care that they are breaking up my family, that I could miss the birth of my child, or that I have to pay my bills here and support her in Mexico. Now I am faced with a terrible decision, where I have to either move to Mexico to be with my wife and child or to just wait it out here for a year. Now if we lived in a border area, maybe that would be an option but that is surely not an option living in Indiana. The irony is that if I wasn’t experiencing a hardship yet, then I am now. I am so shaken, heartbroken, and depressed over this. The whole system is insane. The burden falls on me, a United States born citizen, to prove that being without my wife will cause me to experience a hardship. They don’t even care about her. She doesn’t matter. It is all about my ability to cope without her. Being apart? That isn’t good enough. Being broke or bankrupt? Not good enough. Being apart from my child? Not good enough. All people applying for this waiver are likely in this position. I got the lovely quote explaining “these factors are not, in and of themselves, sufficient for consideration”. Also note though, that other people could be applying for these with varying relationships, not only a spousal relationship. Any US Citizen can petition to have a relative immigrate to the United States.
Most are surprised at this story I’m sure. You can have a strong opinion either way on our immigration policies or what a reform bill should look like. One thing is for sure though, and that is I should not be severely punished as I am for this. This is a law that just doesn’t seem right and I hope for the sake of others like me that something is done soon. I’m tired of our government running so inefficiently and doing nothing for its people. What happens now is that I have to wait for an indefinite amount of time. Some are saying it takes 12 months, but they have a new office and they are trying for 6 months. However, I am told by the government to expect 17 to 20 months. How can I plan my life with that sort of uncertainty? My first child is due in August and it seems pretty certain that will be happening in Mexico. I guess he won’t be running for President. One thing is for sure though and that is I will not miss that occasion no matter where it occurs.
If you want to help you could contact your Senator or House Representative, or even trying to contact the White House. They need to know that this is an issue and system that needs to improve because I have the right to marry who I want. We don’t disagree that we should have to go through a rigorous process. We just disagree that this process needs to require us to be separated from each other.
The Earthquakes in Haiti by Brian Dukes
I’m sure you all know by now that there has been a tragedy in Haiti. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck about 6.2 miles below the surface of the earth, the shallower the quake the more devastating the effects, and about 10 miles southwest of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. This quake has completely devastated this country which also is unfortunate to hold the honor of the poorest
country located in the Western Hemisphere.
As if being poor and destitute then getting hit with a large scale earthquake isn’t bad enough this is just the latest in a long listing of disasters to have struck this island nation. Almost every year for the past ten Haiti has suffered from either tropical storms, hurricanes or flooding. Apparently Haiti just is suffering from bad luck, which is all the more reason for those of us whom have the abilities to step in and offer aid should.
I can’t express how great I felt logging onto Twitter last week and seeing news articles, personal tweets and re-tweets from all of the people I follow, which given is less than 100, about texting to donate money or people letting others know where a local drop off is for clothing or non-perishable food items. It made my heart grow 2 sizes too big, kinda like the Grinch. As a nation I can see that though we may appear to be guarded and bullies of the world we are actually making strides as a nation and individuals to reach out to those whom are truly in need. I’m not saying I don’t believe or know or realize that as a nation we are in the midst of trouble ourselves but I believe we are still much more fortunate than most and we should still share what we have with all.
Now as the rescue efforts are continuing on their way and the U.S. has given millions of dollars in aide relief and 1000 of man hours. We are hit again with another earthquake in the Caribbean. The Grand Cayman Islands had were rattled early in the morning by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake one week after the disastrous Haitian quake. Luckily though in the case of the Grand Cayman quake there were only reports of minor damages, no fallen structures and zero casualties. This also comes after a Monday earthquake in Guatemala at a magnitude of 6.0, there was also little damage and no casualties in this quake. But the fact that in a one week time span we had 3 high magnitude quakes centered in the same area of the world is quite frightening.
I hope we can learn from these other two earthquakes that have happened and while the U.S. is assisting in the rebuilding of Haiti we can impart some sort of standard in some of their structures so that if another earthquake were to happen again possibly there would not be as wide spread damage as there was this time. That possibly we may be able to help their government set up a plan to help keep their citizens safe after another natural disaster. Allow them to have safe water and food to sustain their people while in the rebuilding phase. These are all just hopes and ideas that I have for us, for Haiti for the world. And as of right now it appears that as a world, we are capable of coming together to help when it is necessary.
Why I Love Twitter, Scott Wise, and now Scotty’s Brewhouse by Chris Theisen
Around four year ago (maybe more maybe less but I digress) Scotty’s Brewhouse opened on 96th St. in Indianapolis. Every time I drove by the parking lot was always packed. I had to go check this place out. A few of my co-workers and I headed to Scotty’s on a Monday after work. We had a great time, had some good food and plenty of cold beer. Even though the tab was higher than some of the other places we frequented we enjoyed it enough to return in the future.
Fast forward to March of that same year. NCAA March Madness was in full swing. My bowling team planned to try out Scotty’s after our normal Thursday league play. We hoped to be done in time to catch the second half of the late game. My teammates and I pulled into Scotty’s around 11:00 and the parking lot was still packed. Upon entering we noticed lots of bricks, on the walls and during the basketball games, and LOTS of people. There was only one high top table left open without patrons. There were basketball games on the multitude of TV’s and a packed house of young good looking patrons, we could get used to this place, or so we thought.
After fifteen minutes of not seeing a server or hostess we got a little concerned. Until this point the games and crowd kept our interest but we intended to get some food and drinks, not just watch basketball. About ten minutes later we finally saw a waitress. After flagging her down we were first told we couldn’t get a menu as the kitchen was closed. A lot of places don’t serve full menus at this hour but to not even offer an appetizer menu was odd at best. We then asked if we could get a drink. The bar is closed as well we were told. The team and I couldn’t believe it. Full house, live basketball games and no food or drink available? My teammates and I swore to never go to Scotty’s again.
Fast forward again to 2009. The new digital media world is all a buzz with Twitter and Facebook and, and, and. I started an account on Twitter for and I kept on seeing this account named @brewhouse pop up all over the local Twitter stream. The man behind the account seemed to be a funny, down to earth guy. I later learned that this was THE Scott Wise, owner of Scotty’s Brewhouse. I initially thought it was cool that a man that owned four (now five) restaurants would be interacting with us common folk on Twitter, so I followed the account. After numerous interactions and a few direct messages I felt a rapport had been built between Scott and myself. Mind you I had never met this man face to face.
I mentioned to Scott in a direct message that I had something I wanted to let him be aware of and asked for his email. Five minutes later I was sending Scott an email detailing the bowling teams previous experience. My intentions of the email were to let a business owner know of a negative experience I had. Maybe he didn’t know the manager at 96th St. had this “policy”. Maybe he wanted to know in case it was still going on so he could correct it and ensure happier customers and more revenue in the future. What followed was something I didn’t expect.
I received a response nearly instantaneously. Scott mentioned the manager at the time had since been let go. Scotty’s now had longer kitchen hours and even a separate section called Candlelight that stayed open later than the regular bar. Our conversation could have ended at that point and I would’ve been happy. The owner of the establishment had personally interacted with me and assured me an experience like ours wouldn’t happy again. What followed was again something I didn’t expect.
Scott offered to make our previous situation right. He said he relished the fact that he had a chance to turn a couple of his detractors into staunch, loyal supporters. Scott said he would cover food and beverages for the night should our team accept his offer one night after bowling. You heard it right he would cover our food and beverages for a night for a situation that happened 4 years ago. My teammates thought I was joking with them. You know Scotty they asked. I said no, not really. Not until I forwarded them the email did they believe me.
Fast forward another couple months. After a few emails between the private party planner and myself we had our night all set. Food and drinks on Scotty! The night was great. They were expecting us and knew my name when I mentioned our reservation. The manager on duty came over and talked to us and asked if we were the bowling guys. The food was a lot better than I remember from my first time. I had a bison burger that really needed to be eaten with a knife and fork it was so big. I had the (over) loaded waffle fries. I had my new favorite beer, Gumballhead. The only bad thing about the night? A couple of my teammates still weren’t buying the fact this was all comped by Scott and were skeptical until the waitress told us we were all set. Needless to say she made a lot of money thanks to Scott’s kindness.
For anyone looking for a great place to drink, eat huge burgers (and a million other things) and have a good time then Scotty’s Brewhouse is your place. For anyone looking for a great person to follow and interact with on Twitter, @brewhouse is that account. For anyone doing case studies on social media, customer interaction, customer service or anything business related you would be hard pressed to find someone better to study than Scott Wise.