Slights had always been easy for me to brush aside, as long as I achieved my goal, but something about that moment burrowed deep in the part of me that stored pain. It was the rank stinking power and her rashly righteous use of it, how she chewed my dignity and spit it out just because she could. Speak up! The intent was to make me feel small. People paid so much in visa fees and came here timid with hope, only to be humiliated before hearing a no. If she wanted to, she could say no and still leave their dignity intact. Not
