Juliet Jegasothy (right), who is originally from Sri Lanka, tells her friend Sheena Jacob (left) about adjusting to life in the United States.
Originally aired October 27, 2006, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Transcript
Juliet Jegasothy (JJ)
JJ: We came to America in 1969, we were just newly married and we came to Brooklyn, New York and I was so terrified to even open the door because I had heard all these horror stories about crooks and gangsters and guns in New York. So there was this one evening that Brian was working in the night and I was alone with the baby and the doorbell started ringing and then I go and look through the peephole and it was like a really scary person standing outside. So I didn’t open the door, I told my baby to be quiet and then again the doorbell rings and again. I look through the peephole and I’m like really scared. And the third time it rang there were more than one person and they were all looking really scary and screaming at me through the door. So, I called Brian on the phone and I said there is something happening there are some crooks or somebody trying to frighten me at the door. He said, ”Don’t open the door, don’t do anything, don’t make any noise, be quiet.” So I stayed in the bedroom and this went on and on for almost an hour.
You know all the years I was growing up I was the most, I think, wimpy person. I used to cry for everything. So by now, I’m like sweating and ready to die almost. And then Brian calls around nine o’clock and he says, ”I think, there is something called Halloween going on today and that what has been happening and people are supposed to come and ring the doorbell.” So that was an experience I’ll never forget. And it turns out that my daughter loves Halloween.