2 Responses for "Congratulations to new US Citizen Alec Main!"

1. Diane's Biography of Alec ... August 14th, 2008 at 11:25 am 1

   Alec’s story is a ton of fun to hear about, so WGx asked his wife Diane to provide a few extra details …

   —– Original Message From Diane Main —–

   What would you like to know about Alec? I can give you some details.

   He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in a year he’d rather not mention (because no one who’s met him would believe it anyway). He first came to America on business a few times in the 80s and 90s, and came here for a ten-month stay with Xilinx in late 1998. He had been hired by their Ireland facility, but was sent here for training. We met in January of 1999 in Campbell. Whirlwind romance, blah blah blah, engaged July 1999, he went to Ireland in August 1999. We both flew to New Jersey (where I am from) to be married November 25, 1999. The he went back to Ireland and I moved there a few days before Christmas 1999. We were planning to stay two years, but we missed San Jose too much. I stayed through July 2000, and he came back here in November of 2000. After we went to Britain for a visit at the holidays 2000 into New Year 2001, we applied to Alec’s change of status for permanent residence here. Then green card and starting SoccerMainia happened, then we finally got notification this past Spring about an interview for citizenship in June. After that, it was just waiting for the notice for tomorrow’s swearing in.

   Most important to this story is that we have a business here in Willow Glen (SoccerMainia) and Alec works with a few of the school around here. His daughter just graduated from WGHS in the class of 2008 (she came to live with us in January of 2005). We have a son, born here in January of 2004, who was almost named Scotland. We settled for the very Scottish sounding “Cameron Stuart Main,” with the middle name being my father’s first name. Both Alec’s parents were born and raised in Glasgow, as was MY mother, oddly enough. My father was from Lancashire, England. One thing that is a little sad is that my father passed away this past March, and he and Alec had talked about when Alec would be sworn in as an American. Both MY parents are naturalized U.S. citizens. Both Alec’s parents are deceased.

   When Alec met my parents for the first time (a few days before that wedding of ours in New Jersey), he said to my mother, “I bet you never thought, when you left Scotland, that there was a wee boy in Glasgow who would grow up to marry your youngest daughter.” When my mother left Glasgow for America, Alec was just a couple of years old. She met my father in America, and did not go back for about thirty years!

   We love our British heritage and we are very proud to be Americans. Alec has read a lot of history of the American nation, and he and I both really enjoy learning about the Revolution period. We visited Boston a few years back, and we went to the spot along the Delaware in New Jersey where Washington and his men crossed the river before the turning point in the Revolution (the Battle of Trenton). We hope to go back some time in the next few years and also take in Washington DC. Alec loves history, and all the monuments and historic locations are the kinds of things we love to visit.

   I’m sure Alec could tell you more, from his perspective, but probably not before tomorrow morning!

   Diane

2. Diane Main August 14th, 2008 at 10:42 pm 2

   I ended up writing about today’s ordeal in a letter to the SJ Mercury News. They’ve asked me to shorten it, and I don’t know if the short version will make it in, but here’s what happened:

   Today (Thursday, August 14, 2008), I was among thousands of people who paid $8 per car to park at the County Fairgrounds and NOT get to see my husband become an American citizen. It took ages for the new citizens to actually get inside the facility, but most of the guests who had come along to watch never got to go inside. At no time did USCIS tell people attending this ceremony what to expect upon arrival. No signs, no workers from the Fairgrounds or USCIS to tell people where to go or what to do. Much of today’s terribly planned disaster could have been avoided with a simple “what to expect at your naturalization ceremony” document enclosed with the directions sent to new citizens.

   I am a very proud and patriotic American by birth. I was embarrassed and ashamed at how we were treated today. When ONE person from USCIS FINALLY came outside to tell people how they might let people in five or ten at a time, he was very rude to the people who had assembled. The line of thousands dispersed for the most part after being told we would not be allowed inside to witness the ceremony. It was very hot and sunny, so most people headed for whatever shade they could find. And then we proceeded to wait and wonder how long it would take before the new citizens would be done with the ceremony many of us would never see. I am truly heartbroken that after all this time, all the forms and fees, and all the waiting inherent in the immigration system, I did not get to see my husband take his oath of naturalization. We had brought my son (age 4), my step-daughter and her boyfriend, and a family friend to the ceremony. If I had known what we would have encountered I would have gone alone or perhaps just brought my son. I had been telling him for weeks about when we would go to see Daddy become an American.

   It is perhaps fitting that this ceremony is held at the County Fairgrounds. We were herded and spoken to like animals, and we were assumed to have the intelligence of cattle when the ONE representative from USCIS (or the Fairgrounds?) actually did bark at us. (The people who were waiting were actually surprising calm and respectful, despite the heat, dust, and aggravation.) I have to wonder if the lack of information about what to expect was just to get $8 per car (we had to bring two cars for our group, by the way) out of people ignorant to the mess that awaited us. At least WE live in San Jose. My heart goes out to the families and friends who traveled from all over Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey counties today only to be charged to park and then turned away at the door.