Pheenix
What I love about this journey of meeting one hundred people and getting the chance to listen to their stories is that I meet genuine and unique individuals. I appreciate and celebrate the diversity and the broad scale of different personalities and perspectives. One afternoon I strolled down a quaint and peaceful little street in a greater Los Angeles neighborhood, patiently waiting for my next interview to arrive. I casually peered into the windows of each uniquely individual store as I passed by, and couldn’t help but feel like I was on a set of a movie. And just like a scene in a movie, a cute blonde young woman, saunters down the sidewalk towards me with her classic bike by her side. This young woman is Pheenix, my next interview.
Pheenix is a Hairstylist, who currently moved to Los Angeles because she is also an aspiring actress in hopes to make her imprint on the illustrious Hollywood film industry. My first impression of Pheenix was that she was incredibly genuine with an exuberant and inviting personality. She’s an ardent Dodger fan and loves Quentin Tarantino films. In fact, her and her husband’s first dance at their wedding was to Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell,” which was famously danced to by Vincent Vega(John Travolta) and Mia Wallace(Uma Thurman) at Jack Rabbit Slim’s in Tarantino’s 90’s classic, Pulp Fiction.
When I asked Pheenix what season she is currently in, she responded, “A season of being true to myself.” Going and doing what she was meant to do—be an actress. She recently moved from Reno, Nevada to Los Angeles to completely immerse herself in the bright lights of the film and television scene. Fueled by the love for acting since a very young age, she finally mustered up the courage to make the move and fulfill her destiny, as Pheenix puts it.
When I asked Pheenix what piece of advice would she give her younger self if she could go back in time, she replied, “Move to LA sooner.”
Before she dies she wants to genuinely help someone, especially immigrant families that are unfairly treated by the system and society. Pheenix is passionate about immigration issues and sympathizes with immigrants and minorities, that are discriminated against because her husband is a Mexican immigrant, and a legal resident, awaiting American citizenship.
“Immigration department wants you to be married for two years before applying for your residency. We applied two months too early, so Danny [husband] was granted ‘conditional’ residency. That means we had to wait two years and had to petition to have the ‘conditional’ terms dropped so Danny could become a permanent resident. We have sent in our petition along with a $500 money order, and now we wait,” explains Pheenix.
“We went through hundreds of dollars, Danny’s parents have paid thousands for his residency. They paid someone to do our paperwork and she did it incorrectly so everything was sent back and we had to find someone else to do the paperwork. We had to go through an interview, where Danny was grilled about how he came into the country [U.S.]. He was seven and he was admitted legally with a legal visa. He was seven and this lady [Department of Immigration Officer] was treating him like he made his decision all by himself. When his visa expired when he was nine, the lady [Officer] asked him why he didn’t go back. He was nine! Like he would go back by himself? What an insane question. We were slightly grilled about our relationship. We had been together for about six years when we had our interview and she had a bunch of questions for us that we answered with no problem. We had about 100-200 photos of us over the six years, but she [Officer] was very upset that I printed out the wrong paper for our adjoining bank account. Keep in mind that undocumented people cannot have bank accounts unless they have one at Wells Fargo. Which we had one at Wells Fargo, but I digress. I had to send in the correct paperwork and when we went to the DMV to get Danny’s new license we found out that we had been approved for conditional residency.
“I’ve had to tell my husband that if I.C.E. [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] comes to our door that he doesn’t have to let them in unless they have a signed warrant from a judge. But whatever he does, not to resist arrest. I never thought I’d have to tell my husband this.
“I have asked a couple of other married couples about their experiences with immigration and both couples said they didn’t even have to go through an interview. One couple is a French citizen and American citizen and the other is Chinese and American. They literally sent in the papers and ‘bam!’ Residents!”
Have you and/or your husband experienced discrimination for being an interracial couple?
“We’ve had experiences on both ends of the racial spectrum. White men stare down Danny all of the time. They look at me and then look at him and it’s an overwhelming sense of racial tension. I remember one time at the batting cages a guy saw us eating and he turned in his chair and spread his legs open (something men do to show dominance) and was staring at the back of Danny’s head. Danny was oblivious. But I knew what was going on. I looked that guy right in the eye. Didn’t blink. Begging him to do something. His friends finally caught on and told him to calm down and back off. He turned around. I later hit the shit out of every ball at that came my way that night in the batting cages.
“There have been ‘light’ instances with Hispanic women, I don’t get upset about those instances, I am understanding. I’ve had clients tell me that they get uncomfortable with interracial relationships and they know that I’m married to a Mexican, but they don’t think of us as an interracial couple. We did have an awesome moment once at In-n-Out. We went up to the cashier and he was a young 20’s Latino, he smiled and said ‘I’m diggin the interracial love!’ We laughed and said thank you. It was a very special moment. We talk about it all the time.”
Pheenix and her husband Danny share a love for classic cars and met at a car show years ago.
“My first car was a 1961 Ford Falcon. Flat white, pink top with lace, lowered with curb feelers on all sides. My motorcycle is a triumph T120. I also won a 1940 Harley Knucklehead. And yes, Danny and I met at car shows around town. I was in a car club called ‘The Flying Coffins’ and he was in a car club called ‘Mugrosos.’ We met first when I was thirteen and I loved him, but he didn’t remember me. We had the same friend when I was seventeen, and then I was eighteen we started dating. I knew I was going to marry him when I was sixteen.”
73 stories to go.
