American owned

Some years back, when a dry cleaning business run by people of Korean descent opened, a neighboring business put a huge sign in the window, “The AMERICAN dry cleaners.” So what did I do? I started taking my business to the new cleaners. Because the sign simply seemed like code for “Don’t do business with those furriners.”

Estimates I’ve read about the percentage of Korean-owned dry cleaners have ranged from 30 percent to almost 50 percent. I don’t know what percentage of the owners are American citizens, but I’d guess the number is fairly high. Upon switching to a new dry cleaners, the owner and I stared at each other for a good minute before asking each other the question, “Don’t I know you …?” Turned out I went to school with his brother.

Over the course of doing business, he shared a little of his story with me. After high school, he went to a prestigious university in California. He got married and started a family. He ended up in Silicon Valley, and when the boom went bust, came back to open a business and be closer to the rest of his family.

His family has been in the United States for more than thirty years now. I’d guess they qualify as “AMERICANS” now.