Priorities

Those of you that know my immigration history, know that I've been in this country since 1994. In those 14 years, I have largely self-navigated the morass of US Immigration rules and regulations, applying for all the right statuses, making sure all my paperwork was always in order, and always grinning and bearing the less-than-civil treatment I've received at the hands of every immigration officer at a US port of entry. But always, I've know that if I did everything properly; that if I forgave bored, racist officers their manners; that if I put up with all the "random" screenings and profiling; that if I set a good example and in doing so made a favorable impression on the behalf of other South Asian immigrants; if I did ALL that, I've known that one day I'd be rewarded with the opportunity to become a US citizen, and to become a full participant in the development of my adopted homeland.

That opportunity arrives tomorrow, Monday the 9th of June at 1:20pm, which is when the US Citizenship and Immigration Service has asked me to appear for my citizenship interview in Chicago. But by the type of great cosmic coincidence that make you admire God's sense of humor, Saeeda is due to give birth on Monday, the 9th of June.

Right. The birth of my first baby or US citizenship, which do I think is more important?

While I've made it clear to my wife that the only reason I married her was for the quicker path to citizenship, and that the kid is not going to remember if I was in the delivery room or not (honey, that's what Photoshop is for), I'm honestly walking around on eggshells at home, trying to make sure my wife doesn't laugh to hard in case she goes into labor. All garlic and ginger has been put out of reach (a coworker told me that these induce labor). All physical contact between us is strictly prohibited (hey, even though an internet board says that it is sexual contact that is supposed to induce labor, I'm not taking any chances - this morning I nodded hello to her and then flew out of bed before I could receive a good morning hug).

So the plan is to keep the USCIS appointment, and to hope and pray that Saeeda goes late. In the meantime, I'm busying myself with learning who my state senators are (Obama is one - that was easy), the term length for representatives (two years - a little harder), and that the amendments guaranteeing voting rights are the 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th (wow, I had NO clue about that one). I can only hope that the interviewer, who will ask me ten verbal questions amongst other things, will ask me who the president and vice president are. Or what my state capital is. That I can handle.

Crap, I think I see Saeeda headed towards me. Gotta jet.