"I Could Smell the Freedom..."

I had lunch with a fellow CPA today, a naturalized American citizen from India.  We went to an Indian restaurant in Sunnyvale that specializes in very spicy dishes, which I love.

While we were chowing down, my friend (whom I'll call Amrik) told me that before he came to the USA, he had worked for a Big 4 CPA firm in the Muslim country of Dubai.  Dubai is rather tame by Muslim standards, but it is repressive compared to the West.  You can get arrested for kissing your wife in public there.  You can't speak your mind and you can't practice your religion -- Amrik is a self-described "born again" Christian.  After a couple of years there, Amrik obtained a visa to visit the United States.  His plane landed in Chicago and for the first time in his life, he sat foot on American soil.

His reaction to the event was something I will never forget, as it is a powerful testimony for America.

"I could literally smell the freedom," he said.