Jaime Cruz interview, July 3, 2019: transcript

i AN INTERVIEW WITH JAIME CRUZ An Oral History Conducted by Rodrigo Vazquez Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project Oral History Research Center at UNLV University Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas ii ©Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada University of Nevada Las Vegas, 2018 Produced by: The Oral History Research Center at UNLV – University Libraries Director: Claytee D. White Project Manager: Barbara Tabach Transcribers: Kristin Hicks, Maribel Estrada Calderón, Nathalie Martinez, Rodrigo Vazquez, Elsa Lopez Editors and Project Assistants: Laurents Bañuelos-Benitez, Maribel Estrada Calderón, Monserrath Hernández, Elsa Lopez, Nathalie Martinez, Marcela Rodriquez-Campo, Rodrigo Vazquez iii The recorded interview and transcript have been made possible through the generosity of a National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) Grant. The Oral History Research Center enables students and staff to work together with community members to generate this selection of first-person narratives. The participants in this project thank University of Nevada Las Vegas for the support given that allowed an idea the opportunity to flourish. The transcript received minimal editing that includes the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader’s understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. In several cases photographic sources accompany the individual interviews with permission of the narrator. The following interview is part of a series of interviews conducted under the auspices of the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada. Claytee D. White Director, Oral History Research Center University Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas iv PREFACE Jaime Cruz was sixteen when he put his eye on becoming a merchant marine and the promise of world travel and glamour. For the next six years the young Peruvian enjoyed his career and obtained a mechanical engineering degree from Escuela Nacional De Marina Mercante. Cruz was born in Lima, Peru to Carmen, who retired from CCSD as a teacher’s aide, and Jaime, who was a professional soccer player. When young Jaime emigrated to the United States in 1987, it was to join his mother and brother in Las Vegas. The culture shock was significant, but he was undaunted. And, despite his engineering degree, the only employment he could secure was that of dishwasher. Cruz quickly understood the employment barriers that he would encounter and thankfully with the encouragement of mentors he improved his English skills and never omitted his degree from his resume. Eventually, it was noted and the decision to take a position that utilized this training would be one he never regretted. Today Cruz is the Executive Director of Workforce Connections, Southern Nevada’s Local Workforce Development Board. Prior to his appointment in 2017, he served as Chief Strategy Officer for eight years and was instrumental in partnering with local libraries to expand WIOA v [formerly Workforce Investment Act of 1998] programs, which provide workers and employers assistance. Cruz has worked on sustainability initiatives for major hotel casino companies in Las Vegas, including overseeing the development and implementation of the energy management and building systems at MGM Resorts International’s CityCenter. He also became a naturalized U.S. citizen and proud father of Samuel and Sofia. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Interview with Jaime Cruz July 3, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada Conducted by Rodrigo Vazquez Preface…………………………………………………………………………………………...iv Talks about his birthplace, Lima, Peru; left at age 21; state run schools called Gran Unidad Escolar, how differed from schools in the United States. Father emigrated from Argentina in 1940s and was a professional soccer player; mother born and raised in Peru, worked in tourism, and retired from Clark County School District as a teacher’s aide. Tells of his studies with the Escuela National de Marina Mercante [National Academy for Merchant Marines] in engineering; why he became a merchant marine at age 16…………………………………………………….……1 – 4 Stories of his world travels with the Merchant Marines including stops in European and South American countries. How he moves to Las Vegas to join his mother and brother in 1987; handling speaking English when he arrived with customs, mispronunciation of his first name; how his family decided to live in Las Vegas, mother was in service industry, befriends young Ruben Kihuen; recalls his first memories and impressions of Las Vegas; mother and brother still live on east side near Strip and UNLV…………………………………………………………….….5 – 9 Tells about enrolling at UNLV, his memories of the “basketball heaven” era of Coach Jerry Tarkanian and being a Runnin’ Rebel fan; daughter is now at UNLV in a physical therapy doctoral program. Has a son who attended UNR, majors in literature and communications; works in Lyft management. His personal commitment to the education opportunities for his children. Describes his first job in Las Vegas lessons learned about gratitude, humility, and resilience; how his work experience did not satisfy potential employers, and how Jack Sheridan offered him a job as a dishwasher at Vineyard Restaurant at Boulevard Mall, moves up to busboy, Jack pays for him to take ESL class at UNLV; by 1989 he is working as a food server at newly opened Mirage and what that was like, hard work, long hours…………………………………………………..……10 – 16 Recruited by Treasure Island to work as banquet waiter, he and his then-wife feel they had achieved the “American Dream”; then it his engineering degree is noticed on his resume and he finally gets fresh career opportunity; worked at MGM for twenty years. Explains his current career as Executive Director of Workforce Connections, a development position, what he does, cooperation with educational leaders such as Dr. Jesus Jara (CCSD) and Dr. Federico Zaragoza (CSN); mission in local job market to assist employers and employees…………………..17 – 23 Thoughts on the underemployed category in the local market; has been with Workforce Connections since 2009; observations of job market changes in past decade; new industries like vii Tesla, Google, sports franchises such as NHL; Gov. Sandoval’s impact. One-stop centers at public libraries throughout southern Nevada, DETR [Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation], Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act [WOIA], immigration…...…24 – 29 Talks about Las Vegas’s Peruvian community from 1987 thru today; Peruvian restaurant options have increased over the years; instilling Peruvian culture in his children; also acknowledging the blend of their heritages that include Argentinian, Vietnamese, and French. Recalls his Culinary Union membership, joined while working at Hilton International. Talks about Nevada Partners, DETR, and other community relationships, including Chamber of Commerce, and Station Casinos and others in current time. Mentions ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], feeling fortunate that he was able to immigrate with a green card…………………………….……29 – 38 Appendix: Merchant Marine photos…………………………………………………………39 - 42 viii 1 Today is July third, 2019. I am Rodrigo Vazquez and I am at Workforce Connections. Here with me today is… Claytee White. And… Jaime Cruz. Could you please spell your first and last name for me, Jaime? Yes. J-A-I-M-E. Last name C-R-U-Z. Awesome. I wanted to start by asking you about your childhood…tell us a little about your childhood…where were you born? I was born in Lima, Peru, South America. I grew up there, went to school, went to college, and immigrated at the age of twenty-one. What was school like in Lima? In Peru, at least when I was growing up, most schools were called Gran Unidad Escolar. They were state-run schools and they were massive. They were buildings that look very different than the ones here; when I came here to the States and visited my first elementary school with my kids, I saw carpets and air conditioning and windows. It was a different experience growing up in a Third World country like Peru, an underdeveloped country where education is not always the first priority. I’m grateful for what our kids have here. Sure. What did your parents do when you were growing up? My dad emigrated from Argentina to Peru in the 1940s. He was a professional soccer player. He’s passed away in 1992. My mom was born and raised in Peru, and she worked in tourism in Peru when she was there. When she immigrated to the States, she actually retired as a teacher’s aide for the Clark County School District. 2 Wonderful. You said you went to college in Peru. What did you study? I went to the Escuela National de Marina Mercante, which is the national academy for Merchant Marines, and I chose the engineering field. Some of my other friends became ship pilots and captains or administrative officers, but I became a mechanical engineer. I sailed for six years total, four years as a cadet and two years as an officer. Then I was able to apply that profession of engineering here once I got to the States. Was the university similar to West Point where it’s a university, but you’re also enlisting? Yes, very similar…America’s version is called Kings Point, so very similar to West Point, which is for the army. Kings Point in New York, the Merchant Marine Academy serves that purpose; it forms the officers that will operate the merchant marine vessels that move the merchandise, the commerce around the world, including from the United States to everywhere else. We export a lot of raw materials, if you will, to places like China and we import finished electronics or finished cars. Yes, that’s what I did back then. You said you did that for six years? Yes. I was admitted to the academy at the age of sixteen. I was a young high school graduate, and so I started early. I spent four years. I was nineteen when I graduated because in Peru the school year starts not like here where you start in August. You’re off during summer—January, February, March—and start school in April; then in December is when we graduated. Since I turned twenty in March, I was nineteen when I graduated the academy, believe it or not, very young. Can you describe Lima for me when you were growing up? Lima is called La Ciudad de los Reyes. It’s a beautiful city. It was one of the first cities that the Spaniards came to in South America in the 1500s. It was like any other Spanish colony; it really 3 transformed into a very colonial-looking city with balconies and palatial spaces. The equivalent of the White House in Peru is in Lima; they call it Palacio de Gobierno, where the president lives. It is a beautiful building. Again, it was built hundreds of years ago. It’s surrounded, again, by a plaza, if you will, with a national cathedral and the city of Lima’s alcalde, or mayor building. I think many people know Peru because of Cusco and Machu Picchu, the ruins, but Lima also has its peculiar beauty, and people have to stop by there anyway because Peru’s national airport is in Lima, so before you go to Cusco you have to stop there. Yes, Lima is a beautiful city that has, also, besides the sights to see and the culture that takes you back hundreds of years, it has an incredible culinary culture and rich culinary offerings. The Peruvian cuisine has really come out now and a lot of people know about ceviche and pollo a la brasa. Many people go to Peru not just to visit the ruins, but to enjoy the sights and the food. You said your dad was from Argentina. Growing up did you ever go to Argentina? Did you have family in Argentina? Yes, most of my dad’s family, if not all, stayed in Argentina. Only one brother came to join him in Peru, my tío Juan: he lived with us in Peru. I was fortunate to be able to meet my family in Argentina, because I was able to make stops at Buenos Aires as a young merchant marine cadet and get on a bus for one or two hours and travel to Rosario, which was where my dad was from. Why did you decide to join the Merchant Marines or to go to the university? That’s a great story that I always tell young people because there is a moment in life that you receive a catalyst that kind of shapes your career, right? Until that day I always thought, I think in a naïve way that I was going to be a soccer player like my dad. But not everybody can be Michael Jordan, right? Not even Michael Jordan’s son, as we found out. I was a decent athlete. I 4 played soccer in high school and even in college, but I did not obviously have what it would take to get paid to do it. I lived in a very modest neighborhood. It wasn’t wealthy at all. I attended a school that was not a private school, and so the classrooms were large. — Sometimes here we get really upset, rightfully so, when classrooms get above thirty. My classroom had eighty kids in it. Again, that’s not good, but that was the reality. We had vocational day where they bring in, like here, a police officer, a firefighter—I don’t think we ever got a doctor; I wish we would have—but we got whoever, I guess, was willing to come talk to us. One day I see this young man who didn’t look much older than me, maybe two, three years older than me. He walks in with a white uniform with shiny gold buttons and pretty emblems and this cool cap. He looked sharp. He walked in and he introduced himself and he said, “I’m a Merchant Marine cadet. I’m going to be an officer one day and sail the world.” And he said, “Let me show you where I’ve gone already.” Today you would probably pull up a Facebook page, but he brought in one of those foldable things that you open up from the science days’ kits. He set it on there and he opened his fold-up and he showed us, “This is Italy and this is Greece and this is Spain.” I could only dream to be in all those places…And he told us where he lived and it was only a mile from where I was. And so I said, “If he can do it, I think I can do it.” That inspired me. I think I was in my junior year and from there I started preparing. In my last high school year, I started the application process for the Merchant Marine Academy, which was very competitive. Much like here, I think, it’s competitive because military academies are free, like here, and so you get an education, they clothe you, they feed you. For a young person who has limited resources and whose parents couldn’t pay for a private university, it was a good option. 5 Some of my friends went to the Air Force Academy; Naval Academy; Army. I chose the Merchant Marines. Where did you go as a Merchant Marine? Where did you end up traveling? Lots of places. When I can count them all. It’s twenty-seven countries, but now I can’t recite them anymore. I used to be able to. Some of the ones I mentioned to you already: Italy, Greece, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and the Baltic countries above that, most of all South America and North America, Asia. I still remember the first time; my first trip included a multi-stop in Argentina, Chile, and Brasil. We left Peru, went down the Strait of Magellan to the bottom of South America. I believe our first port was in Chile. Then we crossed the Marianas and on the other side stopped in Argentina, Buenos Aires, which is where I got to travel and see my family. But then we came up to what was the sweetest part of the trip. They say it doesn’t happen that often but—I was a cadet still, a young cadet—we ended up in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival. It was a dream come true for a young person to be in the party central of the world. Today I tell my kids when you look at Ibiza and MTV, that Ibiza in my years was Rio de Janeiro and Carnival. It was really fun to go there and to do that, and that was my first trip. After that, it seems like there were so many fun trips. Italy was beautiful. One of my favorite memories of traveling was not only where we were, because now, I swear, I can’t even remember which port it was, but a lot of times young men get enamored in different places, of the food, the people, the sights, or girls. We always had a curfew, so they made us come back to the ship at least four hours before takeoff because, number one, they wanted a time cushion, and, number two, part of your learning experience was to see how the officers managed that logistical task of closing down all containers, securing everything, departing from the port and all that. We went through roll call and one of us was missing. He 6 was a dear friend of mine. We thought, oh my. This had never happened. That already is disciplinary; he was in trouble, anyway, whenever he showed up. He probably was not going to get to visit port for the rest of that trip. But we went on our way working, and people kept saying, “Has he shown?” No, no. Usually about twenty minutes or thirty minutes before the ropes actually come off the port and the ship starts to go, the stairwell comes up. The port inspector goes down, clears everything, the stairwell comes up, and really everything starts to happen as the tow boats come to push you around. As the tow boats start to push and the ship starts to depart from the port, we see in the horizon at the end of the dock our friend. He is coming, running toward the ship. We were looking at the officers. What’s going to happen? For sure they’re going to stop. They didn’t because time is money in a port and the other ship is waiting, and so nothing changed. The officers would tell you, “Pay attention to your work.” We’re working and we’re trying to peek and our friend is just running toward us. As he’s getting closer, you can tell he knows we’re not stopping—oh no. He sees no stairwell and he sees the distance between the ship and the dock. The funniest thing is he didn’t stop. I think I would have stopped, if I think about it. I think I would have stopped. He didn’t. He was all in. He came to the end of the dock and just jumped, jumped in the water and started to swim. Then the officers say, “Man in the water. Man in the water.” So, they throw the life saver device and up he comes. The officers were mad. We were laughing, but the officers were mad. They put him in detention. That was my young life. I was so fortunate. I tell my kids that I feel fortunate that by my early twenties I had seen the world, experienced a lot of, not just freedom and independence, but I think that that sometimes is the fun part, but it also teaches you a lot to be independent, to be 7 out in the world and sometimes not speak the language or get lost, and so you learn some skills that serve you a lifetime. I feel very privileged and never regret the fact that I chose the Merchant Marines as my career path. Do you have photographs when you’re in that white uniform? I probably do. Yes, I probably do have them…Sure, yes. [Note: see appendix with photos] You said you came to the U.S. when you were twenty-one? Yes, between twenty-one and twenty-two. I can’t remember exactly, yes. Where did you move to? Where did you arrive? My destination was going to be Las Vegas because my mother and my brother were already here. The port of entry, I think, was—I say port—the airport was John F. Kennedy Airport, I think. I remember that day also because when you are a Merchant Marine, one of things, of course, you learn is foreign languages, so English was not foreign to me, but I hear even today they say I speak a lot better than when I arrived. When you learn English in a foreign country, you learn it through textbooks. You say, ‘Good morning, Mr. Brown. How are you today?’ [Speaking with an accent] ‘I am fine. How are you?’ ‘I am well, thank you.’ The textbook English didn’t work when I got off the plane. There was this man from customs; I think he was from the South from what now I can tell. As I come up to him and I’m getting ready mentally to say my good mornings and how are yous and have my passport, he said, “Yo, what’s up?” And I just thought, yo what’s up, yo what’s up, what does that mean? I went quickly to my mental notes, looked up and said, “Did I really get off in America or some other kind of place?” Even though you prepare, here you find out that English can be cut up in urban languages across the spectrum: the South, the West, New York. The first time they offered me kofee [pronouncing]. “You want kofee?” I was like, what? Now I’m used to it all and I’m used to even my name being 8 not just Jaime, but Jayme or Jyme or all the variations. But when you first get here that’s kind of your experience. Yes, I got there and made it through that. Las Vegas has been my home since 1987, yes, since I came, I never left. Why did the family decide on Las Vegas? That’s a good question. My mom, I think, picked Las Vegas, because from what she tells me, she had friends. She had friends here in Las Vegas and she came. Of course, as you know, always Las Vegas has been a place where immigrants can find a job. The service industry has always been the foundation of our economy where you can find a job and sustain a family. Whether it be the food service, the hospitality, tourism, entertainment, all those jobs, I know people who support families by making beds. I remember still when I met my good friend Ruben Kihuen who eventually became a congressman; he, too an immigrant. His mom still makes beds today at the MGM. I think that’s why; I think my mom, like many other immigrants, probably felt that Las Vegas was a place where you could take a shot and that’s why she came here. Did you fly in from JFK? Yes. If I remember correctly it was one of those tickets that you buy that you have to stop because of price probably. I don’t think even today there is a direct flight between Lima and Las Vegas. I think my choices were Lima-Los Angeles-Las Vegas or Lima-Miami or Lima-New York-Las Vegas; one of those. I think that’s how I ended up having to get off the international plane, to go through customs and ICE, and then get on the domestic flight to Las Vegas. What did you think of the city when you first got here? Again, I remember it like it was yesterday, my first time off the plane. I had been to a lot of places in the world, but nothing felt like when I got off the plane. It was July or August and it 9 was eight p.m. at night and I was surprised when I got off the plane because it felt like I was walking into an oven. I thought, something’s wrong. I must be near a jet engine or something. No. As I came down the walkway, the heat was coming from the asphalt. I was like this [demonstrating] and, oh my God. That island effect, Las Vegas bakes all this concrete and then at night the sun goes away, but you still have that heat…I had never seen that or felt like that before or at least noticed it so much. Yes, that was my first impression. I got in the cab. Today with Uber and Lyft you kind of know where you’re going and if somebody is taking you for a ride, you can be like, “Hey, that’s not the route.” I noticed that the cabbie took me for a little ride, which I was grateful for because now that I know the town, he could have gone off Tropicana and made a right, but I ended up on the Strip, which I thought was cool. I got on the Strip and I started to see some hotels. Eventually he made a right somewhere and took me where I needed to go. But that was my first impression: the heat and then the beautiful Strip at eight, nine p.m. at night. I had only seen it on TV. I used to watch that show ‘Vegas.’ Dan Tanna was the name of the character; Robert Urich, I think, was the actor. I used to watch that show. He would jump in his convertible underneath the Desert Inn and come out. He was a private investigator, I think. Seeing Las Vegas in person was really, really cool. What side of town did your family live in? My mom still lives in the same area as before; it’s the 89119 neighborhood, close to the Strip on the east side of the Strip, and so close to UNLV; that area. My brother lives there as well in that area. He hasn’t moved. He bought that place almost twenty-something years ago, so he stayed. When I got married, I bought a home in Henderson. I’m the one that moved to the suburbs. 10 I ended up living near UNLV as well because in those years when I got here, in ’87, one of the first things I did was enroll at UNLV as a part-time student to take ESL to perfect my use of the English language, and so I spent two years there as an ESL student. I was fortunate, because if you remember, 1987, ’88, ’89 was basketball heaven at UNLV. I had never followed basketball. In Peru, unlike here where my kids have all these options for sports when they went to school, in Peru you had three: It was futbol, futbol or futbol. Which one do you want? Here, when I went to UNLV, I saw that energy around the campus and they would say, “Hey, tonight, the game. Loyola Marymount is here.” I finally said, “I’ve got to go,” because the students were so energized. I went and it was a cheap ticket. I can’t remember if it was a dollar or five, but it was cheap, the student ticket. I’ll tell you what, the first time I saw it I fell in love. It was full; the Thomas & Mack was full. They had a floating shark and they would play the music, du-du-du, du-du-du. Then these guys would come out: Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, the local kid from Rancho, and Anderson Hunt. They would outrun any team that came and score a hundred-and-thirty points. Eight seconds would go and basket, basket. Again, fortunate because since then it’s been mostly painful. But those years, boy, it was so fun to be a Runnin’ Rebel fan. I still have some of my gear. I bought a Larry Johnson jersey. I had a lot of good times at UNLV while I was there as well as a student. My daughter is now a student at UNLV. She just finished her second year of a doctor of physical therapy program at UNLV. She is entering the final year, which is no longer classroom, but all clinicals. On this Monday, I believe, she starts her first rotation at the US Veterans Hospital in North Las Vegas. She’s going to be working with injured soldiers. I have a Rebel at home. Did any of your kids join the military? 11 No. I always… hoped not because today it’s a different world. I always thought, for sure I want my kids to be Merchant Marines, because I had so much fun. But then the first time I saw that movie Taken, where the daughter gets kidnapped…I was like, no, no, I don’t think I want that; her traveling in Europe. It’s a different world today. But I did share it with them always, and I met a person who worked here who went to the Merchant Marine Academy here in the States, and I remember also inviting him over to dinner to tell my kids about the academy here since they had heard all about mine. One of the things he shared with them, which is really interesting, is that the Merchant Marine Academy in the United States is always in the top-ten list of earning potential; meaning when they scan graduates of all universities, the Merchant Marine Academy is in the top-ten list of earning power for graduates because they go back five, ten years after, where are they at? I told them, “Hmm, I know mine isn’t like that over there.” My kids said, “No, we ain’t going to no Merchant Marine Academy.” One went to UNR; my boy went to UNR. I have a Wolf Pack member and I have a Rebel at home, which I guess makes sense being a Nevadan. He spent four years and came back with two majors, a bachelor’s in communications, and one in English literature. In his junior year, he finally picked a major, I said, “Oh that’s great, but you’ve got to make sure you’re employable.” So, he got two: in communications and in English. He’s been very employable. He’s done very well. He is only four, five years now in the workforce and he just got promoted. He works in management for Lyft and as a startup Lyft is growing, and so they created two national positions to help them open these Lyft stations, they call them, where drivers go and get car washes, oil changes, and he and another person are the point people nationally for that. I’m proud of him. I think he came back employable and so he’s doing okay. 12 Then, of course, my daughter—she is still in the final stretch of her college career. I keep saying eventually when they’re both done—because that was my promise to them since I didn’t have many choices, as you heard my story that my mom didn’t have many resources. I went to a state-run school. I told my kids that I would pay for their education; that I wanted them to graduate debt free. Again, like my mom did for me, just do a little bit more for your kids so they have a further start; that was my promise. I think I should have put in a clause because my daughter, when she finished her bachelor’s in kinesiology and exercise science, she went to California on a basketball scholarship—she is my athlete, by the way. I think she inherited my father’s athletic gene or at least a larger portion than I did. When she came back, she said, “Hey, Dad, remember when you said…?” I said, “Oh yes.” “I’d like to do a post-graduate degree at UNLV.” Of course, here we are. But next year I’m going to get a raise when they get off my payroll, so I’m looking forward to that. She’s not going to get a PhD? Well, this post-graduate thing, it’s funny, their careers, I’m learning with them. My son wants to someday get a master and a PhD in business or something. My daughter’s field has evolved; her professors at UNLV, when they were in the profession twenty years ago, it was only a bachelor’s, but then it evolved to being a master’s, and now it’s evolved to be a doctorate program. I told my daughter, “You’re lucky because next May you get to be in that row with all the puffy hats and whatever they are that look like Hogwarts.” I said, “You didn’t have to go through a master. You go straight to that row.” She’s like, “Yes, I didn’t think about it.” I said, “I did because I only have to pay once.” I was concerned about that. That’s why I asked. She said, “Dad, I’ve got to do this.” I said, “Is that this program and then that program?” She said, “No, 13 it’s this one program.” I said, “I love that.” Now our big decision is, do we buy the cheap Hogwarts’ costume that you only use once or the one that’s really fancy. The fancy one. The fancy one, yes. I told her, “Listen with all we’ve spent, we’re not going to skimp now…That’s the least of the expenses.” I’m looking forward to it in May. When they both graduated with their bachelor’s, I always looked down there to the masters and doctorates. That’s quite an accomplishment. I never did it. To see my kids do it is pretty satisfying. When you first got here, what was your first job here? Another great question. That job I will never forget because it taught me a lot, not about thermodynamics or combustion or things that an engineer like me knows, but about humility, first of all, gratitude for what you have, and resilience, really, it taught me because, as I told you before, maybe just a few months before I got here, I was on a ship as an officer, a low-level officer because I had just graduated, but still in command of people twice my age. The workers that worked under my shift in the engine room, I was giving them instructions because I was trained and educated in that field and the company made me responsible for that equipment. But when I came here, none of those things mattered much, which is kind of interesting now that I ended up in workforce development, never planned it. Back then I faced what many of our clients in this system face today, the public workforce development system. I had training or a certificate that did not carry much weight here because it was foreign; I was an engineer from a foreign country. I didn’t have any other stuff that they called work experience. I would walk the casinos and the utility companies, and they would all say, “Come back when you have some experience here in the U.S.” And I said, “How am I going to get it?” I said, “That’s what I’d like, some experience.” 14 Because of all that, after about four weeks of trying and trying, I had to get to work, and so my first job here in the States was as a dishwasher at a restaurant. For those that have lived here a long time, like me, they’ll probably remember it. You have to have lived here at least thirty years. It was called The Vineyard Restaurant at the Boulevard Mall. It was an Italian restaurant, two stories, cobble tile floors, with an accordion player doing the songs, ‘When the moon hits the sky like a big pizza pie.’ It had an all-you-can-eat buffet. Packed every day. Great value. We wore red T-shirts with the whi