Level 7
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When I came to the United States from Cuba it was difficult at first to
feel comfortable in my new country. I didn’t speak any English. I had
many embarrassing moments, but one was especially painful for me. I
won’t forget it for the rest of my life. It was in the morning in the Metro
Station.
I was waiting for the Metro to go to school, when I saw an elderly
woman. She was sitting in a chair carrying a lot of bags. Ten minutes
later the Metro came. She stood up to take the Metro, but forgot one
bag. I picked up the bag from the chair. My intention was to give her
the bag, but in one moment she looked at me with her bag in my hand
and started to shout. “Police, police! This man wants to steal my bag!”
Imagine in a short time I had two police men behind me. I felt
terrible. I almost died. I tried to explain to them what was happening,
but I couldn’t speak English. Fortunately for me, another police man
came. He was from Puerto Rico and spoke Spanish. I explained to him
what was happening and he called the Metro Station supervisor.
Finally, after 30 minutes the supervisor came and they went together
to the supervisor’s office. They were there checking the camera. I was
waiting for 45 minutes. Those were the longest 45 minutes in my life.
When they came back they apologized to me, because they saw in the
camera what had really happened. It was one of the worst moments
in my life, because I tried to explain the truth of the situation and I
couldn’t. At that moment I understood how important it was for me to
learn English. In addition, when the woman started to shout, everybody
in the Metro Station was looking at me like I was a robber.
Fredy Reyes Toledo
Teacher: Pamela Hodel, EVE
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