Riding With Farsi Speakers on Trains

I had an odd conversation with an fifty-something-ish woman on the train home last night. She is an Iranian immigrant and so, to make conversation, I asked her if she heard that there was an earthquake in Iran yesterday centered close to Qom. She asked me the magnitude and if anybody was hurt. I told her it was a 5.6 and that it didn't appear that there were large casualties. "Damn," she said, "we need a 10 to hit Qom and kill everybody. They have ruined my country." I asked her if she would ever go back if there was a regime change in Iran. "No, I am an American now. I love America. I live in Seattle. Have you ever been to Seattle?" And then, for ten minutes, she proceeded to give me a better sales pitch for Seattle than the mayor or any tourist board could muster.

I was so refreshed by the candor and glibness of her manner. She talked to me, a stranger, for the whole train ride and our conversation could be summed up thusly: "I spit on those Islamist bastards. I want them dead. Have you ever been to the Fishmarket? It's fantastic!"