Now, my wife is a Middle East historian, so I like to think I've been less swayed by the one-sided, often biased view of that part of the world that is often presented by the US media. Still, leaving the US with all its freedoms, for the theocracy of Iran seemed to me, well, not such a good idea. You know, here in the US, I work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, just to pay my bills, put food on my table, and help my son. I feel stress all the time. I have no health care, my car is old but I need to keep driving it.
Life is always a struggle.
When I was back in Tehran, I asked how they deal with stress. They didn't even know what I meant. They don't even have a word for stress. That morning they got up and ate a large breakfast. They walked together downtown, and opened the shop.