Before there were iPods and MP3s, there was the Walkman in the 1980s. It was the yellow Sony Walkman that accompanied my grandmother on the bus ride from Chinatown to the clothing factory in the slums of Brooklyn. The Walkman competed with the noisy sound of sewing machines while she sewed on the tags to one clothe after another. You may be wondering what she was listening to. Was it rock music or Chinese folk songs? It was neither. She was listening to naturalization test materials. At the time, it was considered to be luxurious for a Chinese person to immigrate to America. Before immigrating to the US, my grandmother worked at a state owned slipper factory with a monthly pay of 30 yuans, which was equivalent to $3.33, while the monthly pay in America was $500. The wage and standard of living was much better in the US. She listened to the Walkman whenever she got a chance because she wanted to quickly get citizenship for the rest of her family to immigrate to America. She often got frustrated at herself because she could not remember the material even though she listened to it for months. Nevertheless, she did not give up and continued to listen to the tape with the handicapped headphone that only worked on the right ears. Eventually, her right ear became partially deaf due to the long hours of listening to the tape. The Walkman represents her persistence and selflessness to enable her siblings to immigrate to America for the better opportunities.

 

– Benny

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant