Fair Play

Head butting in the middle of the World Cup is not nice. Everyone who saw what Zidane did yesterday during the World Cup final, the last game of his career, must have felt many different thoughts. People are talking about it and nobody knows what happened. What did Materazzi say to Zidane? Was a red card legitimate since neither of the refrees actually witnessed the incident? Unfortunately, these questions don't matter. But the bigger question is, "what's fairness?"

Technically, players don't get a penalty for any, literally any, comments made to each other during play. There is no rule for FIFA to give a penalty for what players say, simply because it cannot be recorded and played to the audience. But it was a replay which gave Zidane a red card. So players can use verbal epithets to provoke opponents. Think of the worst thing people from other country could say to your country. It's a war. Not a game. It's a crime. Not a joke. And these people who say these things can get away with it? FIFA has something to think about. Lucky it wasn't a game between Al-Qaeda and American army or between Japan and China. A red card wouldn't have solved the problem.

I won't say what Zidane did was forgivable. But at the same time, I hope Materazzi will be punished and receive equally negative responses from the media as well as people who watched the game. Zidane was arguably the best player of the last decade. Even some Italian players admit that. Not only was he a great player, he was a heroic icon to many Arabic French. He knew what he meant to the people and kids who admired him. He knew that was his last game. And he didn't want to leave the field in such a way. I'm sure that he's shut his mouth or held his head to many bad words so far in his long career. It's sad that some player pushed him to the edge, to ruin his career and achievement, simply by saying brutal words to him. Materazzi, if he wasn't a complete asshole, must be realizing what a terrible thing he did, and I hope he is.

Zidane's still keeping his mouth shut and doesn't intend to reveal what Materazzi said to him. That's another sign that it was something quite provocative. Social rather personal. If Zidane revealed the exchange, there could be a war, or at least a huge conflict between Italy and Algeria, or many other Arabic communities. I am sure Zidane can take responsibility for what he did. Can Materazzi do the same?

Battle with Esq.

I am one of the millions of immigrants in the U.S. A legal immigrant who pays taxes and works hard to pursue a career. While some people are lucky enough to win a Green Card lottery without spending a dime, I have spent thousands of dollars to stay and work in this country, legally. Even if someone offered me a job, I'd still need to file paperwork and pursuade the government to issue me a visa. Money, timing and luck are not easy to get all at one time, and I need them all along with a lawyer, one of the most unfaithful creature.

H1-B, a non-immigrant working visa, is what I have. For this type of visa, the employer files a petition on behalf of me. After all, the company has to prove to the goverment that they couldn't find another qualified citizen, but only me, a foreigner, for the particular position. My position must be related to what I majored in school as well. I need to make as much money as a citizen would have made for the position. $2,000 for the lawyer. $1,000 for the government. And after the first three years of period, I have to go through this process again, paying the same amount of money, in order to continue my work at the sponsoring company. At least I was lucky enough to have my company take these costly steps.

My initial visa expires at the end of August, 2006. Now I have to file an extension for the visa I was once approved for. It's usually not hard to get it approved for the second period. But I still needed to meet and work with my lawyer, a mid-town suspender esq. Almost all the immigration lawyers are bloodless, mean money-suckers.

I've heard bad reviews about my lawyer. But he was experienced enough to get me a visa for the first three years. And now for the second and the last period of the six years allowed for any H1-B applicants, I decided to use the same lawyer. The other day, they sent me a draft of my renewal application. The supporting letter, which states all the details to establish the fact my company legitimately needs my continuing serivice, had many typos and incorrect details. I instantly emailed my lawyer with some questions that I needed to confirm and clarify before my employer signs. The response was outrageously rude. I guess he misunderstood what I wrote in my email and furiously accused that I 'complained' about them making a 'mistake.' I didn't, however, make any accusations. I learned that lawyers get easily freaked out when their clients mention anything negative about their services. But if they get upset so easily, how come they don't make sure to proof the document that they file on behalf of the client in the first place? It's simply a contradiction. He couldn't even write an email using proper English.

The assistant who primarily hanldes the actual writing was calm and made the necessary changes. But I still needed to write back to my lawyer in order to establish the fact that his response to my email with questions was not appropriate. This time, I wrote as if I were a lawyer. I paid meticulous attention to the words I used, explaining there was a misunderstanding, without offending him, while conveying that I deserved better legal service from him. I am sure if the correspondences were not made by means of emails, my lawyer wouldn't have reacted so furiously; they hate the paper trail that could harm their career. That's why I chose to email. I won't give up, after paying him couple of grand. They know the law well but don't care at all about immigrant workers.

As boring as it sound, that's what I and many other immigrant workers have to go through.

Cubano a la Williamsburg

A little Spanish bakery on the corner of Grand and Bedford Avenue is my new favorite breakfast place. For over a year since I moved in to this neighborhood, the artificially colored birthday cake samples in the showcase, completely discolored by the sun and a plastic naked-boy mascot sadly draining in the sea of cream, didn't seem to have much to offer. "Who would eat that crap?" was my thought everytime I passed.

A few months ago, my boyfriend, who is a bit of an Epicurenan, suggested grabbing a sandwich from them. We've seen many construction workers getting a morning sandwich and local Spanish people picking up some coffee in the morning. The place seemed to be popular for sure and we needed to at least give a chance to this bakery as we do to all other neighborhood restaurants.

Once you go inside, there's always a long line in front of the counter and a showcase shelf full of Spanish treats. Next thing you notice is the ladies who are working behind the counter, some of whom are shorter than the glass case. They swiftly serve each customer. But the biggest offer here is the price. An egg & ham sandwich on big hero bread is only $2.25. Hot coffee is only 60 cents. Even an iced coffee, which they charge $1.25 mainly for the ice, is still the cheapest in this hipster neighborhood.

For our first time, I had a sandwich with egg, ham and cheese. My boyfriend ordered a Cubano sandwich with extras of pickled jalapeno, pickles, lettuce and tomato, mayo and mustard. The lady wrote down our order on a piece of paper of 2 inches. Traditionally, a Cubano is comprised of roasted pork, ham, swiss cheese and pickles with mustard (and sometimes mayo). I never enjoyed eating too much meat. But this version was pretty good. The iceberg lettuce and unripe American tomato are not nutritionally advantageous, but they add some crunch and refreshment together with pickles. The key extra is the pickled jalapeno. I believe all Cubano should have pickled jalapeno as a standard.

The place being so busy and our Cubano has extra toppings, we normally wait for 5 to 7 minutes. Worth waiting? For a huge sandwitch for $3.50, of course. If you are in this hood, please try, or at least see the cakes by the window. They recently made them all new, saving the plastic mascot on the cake.