I replied with something like “Oh, that’s really cool! I hope you’re enjoying the US!” and then continued on with the conversation.
She was noticeably surprised. At the end of the conversation, she said:
“I don’t mean to sound… rude… but do you really not care that I’m from Iran? I’ve been advised by friends not to tell Americans where I’m from because they’ve experienced verbal abuse… is that just not true? I don’t want the fact that I’m from Iran to hurt my chances of getting a job…”
I didn’t know what to say. I told her that any American who has a problem with the place that she’s from isn’t worth her time and not to pay any attention to them. I felt so damn embarrassed for my country and some of the people that live in it. She was so genuinely pleased to talk to someone who didn’t care that she was from Iran… I guess she’d been hiding it from people…
A woman came and applied for a job today. She told me that she was new to the United States - that she had just moved here from elsewhere. I asked her where, and she cautiously said “Iran.”
