[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm five years old, and I am very proud.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.00,0:00:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My father has just built the best outhouse
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.00,0:00:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in our little village in Ukraine.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.00,0:00:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Inside, it's a smelly, gaping hole in the ground,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.00,0:00:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but outside, it's pearly white formica
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.00,0:00:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it literally gleams in the sun.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.00,0:00:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This makes me feel so proud, so important,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.00,0:00:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I appoint myself the leader of my little group of friends
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.00,0:00:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I devise missions for us.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.00,0:00:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we prowl from house to house
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.00,0:00:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,looking for flies captured in spider webs
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.00,0:00:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we set them free.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.00,0:00:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Four years earlier, when I was one,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.00,0:00:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after the Chernobyl accident,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.00,0:00:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the rain came down black,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.00,0:00:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and my sister's hair fell out in clumps,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.00,0:00:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I spent nine months in the hospital.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.00,0:00:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There were no visitors allowed,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.00,0:00:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so my mother bribed a hospital worker.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.00,0:00:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She acquired a nurse's uniform,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.00,0:01:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she snuck in every night to sit by my side.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.00,0:01:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Five years later, an unexpected silver lining.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.00,0:01:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thanks to Chernobyl, we get asylum in the U.S.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.00,0:01:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am six years old, and I don't cry when we leave home
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.00,0:01:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we come to America,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.00,0:01:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because I expect it to be a place filled with rare
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.00,0:01:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and wonderful things like bananas and chocolate
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.00,0:01:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Bazooka bubble gum,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.00,0:01:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Bazooka bubble gum with the little cartoon wrappers inside,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.00,0:01:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Bazooka that we'd get once a year in Ukraine
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.00,0:01:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we'd have to chew one piece for an entire week.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.00,0:01:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the first day we get to New York,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.00,0:01:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my grandmother and I find a penny
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.00,0:01:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the floor of the homeless shelter that my family's staying in.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.00,0:01:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Only, we don't know that it's a homeless shelter.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.00,0:01:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We think that it's a hotel, a hotel with lots of rats.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.00,0:01:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we find this penny kind of fossilized in the floor,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.00,0:01:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we think that a very wealthy man must have left it there
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.00,0:01:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because regular people don't just lose money.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.00,0:02:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I hold this penny in the palm of my hand,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.00,0:02:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's sticky and rusty,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.00,0:02:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it feels like I'm holding a fortune.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.00,0:02:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I decide that I'm going to get my very own piece
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.00,0:02:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of Bazooka bubble gum.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.00,0:02:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in that moment, I feel like a millionaire.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.00,0:02:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,About a year later, I get to feel that way again
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.00,0:02:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when we find a bag full of stuffed animals in the trash,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.00,0:02:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and suddenly I have more toys
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.00,0:02:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than I've ever had in my whole life.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.00,0:02:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And again, I get that feeling when we get a knock
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.00,0:02:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the door of our apartment in Brooklyn,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.00,0:02:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and my sister and I find a deliveryman
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.00,0:02:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with a box of pizza that we didn't order.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.00,0:02:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we take the pizza, our very first pizza,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.00,0:02:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we devour slice after slice
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.00,0:02:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as the deliveryman stands there and stares at us from the doorway.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.00,0:02:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he tells us to pay, but we don't speak English.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.00,0:02:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My mother comes out, and he asks her for money,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.00,0:02:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but she doesn't have enough.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.00,0:02:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She walks 50 blocks to and from work every day
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.00,0:02:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just to avoid spending money on bus fare.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.00,0:02:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Then our neighbor pops her head in,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.00,0:03:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she turns red with rage when she realizes
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.00,0:03:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that those immigrants from downstairs
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.00,0:03:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have somehow gotten their hands on her pizza.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.00,0:03:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everyone's upset.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.00,0:03:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the pizza is delicious.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.00,0:03:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It doesn't hit me until years later just how little we had.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.00,0:03:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On our 10 year anniversary of being in the U.S.,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.00,0:03:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we decided to celebrate by reserving a room
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.00,0:03:26.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the hotel that we first stayed in when we got to the U.S.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.00,0:03:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The man at the front desk laughs, and he says,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.00,0:03:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"You can't reserve a room here. This is a homeless shelter."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:31.00,0:03:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we were shocked.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.00,0:03:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My husband Brian was also homeless as a kid.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.00,0:03:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His family lost everything, and at age 11,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.00,0:03:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he had to live in motels with his dad,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.00,0:03:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,motels that would round up all of their food
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.00,0:03:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and keep it hostage until they were able to pay the bill.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.00,0:03:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And one time, when he finally got his box
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.00,0:03:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of Frosted Flakes back, it was crawling with roaches.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.00,0:03:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But he did have one thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.00,0:04:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He had this shoebox that he carried with him everywhere
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.00,0:04:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,containing nine comic books,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.00,0:04:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,two G.I. Joes painted to look like Spider-Man
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.00,0:04:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and five Gobots. And this was his treasure.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.00,0:04:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was his own assembly of heroes
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.00,0:04:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that kept him from drugs and gangs
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.00,0:04:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and from giving up on his dreams.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.00,0:04:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm going to tell you about one more
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.00,0:04:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,formerly homeless member of our family.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.00,0:04:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is Scarlett.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.00,0:04:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once upon a time, Scarlet was used as bait in dog fights.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.00,0:04:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She was tied up and thrown into the ring
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.00,0:04:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for other dogs to attack so they'd get more aggressive before the fight.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.00,0:04:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And now, these days, she eats organic food
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.00,0:04:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she sleeps on an orthopedic bed with her name on it,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.00,0:04:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but when we pour water for her in her bowl,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.00,0:04:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she still looks up and she wags her tail in gratitude.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.00,0:04:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sometimes Brian and I walk through the park with Scarlett,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.00,0:04:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she rolls through the grass,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.00,0:04:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we just look at her
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.00,0:04:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then we look at each other
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.00,0:05:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we feel gratitude.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:01.00,0:05:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We forget about all of our new middle-class frustrations
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.00,0:05:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and disappointments,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.00,0:05:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we feel like millionaires.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.00,0:05:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.00,0:05:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)