Once upon a time, in a village outside the Nacirema country, a little boy was born. His family was poor, and although both his parents worked, all the money was collected by the boy’s evil, paternal grandfather. However, the little boy was very smart; in fact, he was so smart, that in school, which he only attended because of the village’s new laws, he outsmarted even the richest boys one of whose grandmother was the principal. On the weekends, he would go and help his father toil in constructing beautiful houses for the rich folk of their village, and the little boy dreamed that one day, he would be able to afford a house for his family and future family.

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As he grew, the little boy still held onto hope for a brighter future, and a teacher told him that there was a school which might be more financially affordable and give this little boy an opportunity to succeed in the future; the school was a trade school. The little boy elated told his parents; his mother worried about the costs, while his father drunkenly believed the lies spewed by his siblings and his father that the little boy would just run off and live as a vagabond. The little boy’s older sisters and mother believed in him and helped pay for his tuition and boarding.

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At the same time, back in the village, there was a little girl who grew up hoping to help her mother and family; she went to school and was a leader. Teachers and students alike admired her leadership, and the little girl flourished in the sciences, specifically chemistry. One of her teachers suggested that the little girl become a doctor, but when she went home to tell her mother the good news, her mother gave a slight chuckle and questioned how the little girl would ever afford her dream. The little girl stopped wanting to go to school later, and as a teenager, she focused more on working than gaining a higher education.

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The little boy eventually became a teenager and completed his studies, while eventually gaining an internship from the trade school. A friend of his mentioned that they weren’t earning as much in their country, but that if they went to work for a Nacirema area, then they would even be able to buy and build as many houses in their village as the little boy had once dreamt. So, the now, young man took up his friend’s offer and told his parents that he would embark on this journey for a brighter future for everyone. The mom worried, but both parents now believed in their son. The young man toiled at his new Nacirema job, at first for cents an hour, then eventually, he was able to afford Nacirema dollars an hour. Eventually, the young man was able to send money to his family. His parents were now able to construct a two story house in their village; the young man went back to visit his family. He often felt the loneliness, but one day, he crossed paths with the little girl who was now a grown up. She was still a leader in her own way and talked to the lonely, young man. They flirted for a bit, and she left to continue doing her work. The young man wanted to know more about her, but he thought she had been a fiction of his imagination, under the spell of the liquid courage that he drank. However, later that day, the young woman was stalked by a man on a bicycle; she saw that young man again and asked him if they could walk together. He made small talk, but he sensed a change in her attitude; then, he saw the stalking bicyclist. He protected her, and when they arrived at her house safely, he mustered the courage to ask for her home phone number. They made plans to meet up, fell in love, dated, and eventually married.

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However, they had to move and leave behind their beautiful village and families to flourish in the Nacirema area. Eventually, the young man was able to help his family move to Nacirema, and he helped his wife in providing financial support for her mother, as she had once done. Eventually, they had their own family. Life had its joys and struggles, but then a monster in the guise of a man came to power in Nacirema because the Nacirema people, who struggled to get jobs, houses, and afford daily household items. Instead of blaming the rich Nacirema and foreign born greedy monsters, a majority of the Nacirema people united to blame the non-Nacirema people, like the young man and his family. The monster in power passed laws at first to separate the new families coming into Nacirema, but then the monster wanted more pain and blood. So, the monster chose to separate families who had long lived in Nacirema, but were not yet able to call themselves Nacirema. Masked, mini monsters would roam the streets and carry out the evil monster’s decrees. The young man, now an older adult, was now brutally separated from his family; his family feared for his safety and their own. They had no form of contacting him, and his children feared that the mini monsters would take away their mother, too. Luckily, heroes rose; lawyers and paralegals worked to help the taken people. Everyday Nacirema people also used their voices both in person and online to help, in many forms, the taken people and their families gain resources and justice. As of today, we still need those everyday heroes to help these families, who despite the evil monster’s words, are more human than him.

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