My local Donut purveyor retired today

[Lakewood90712]

An immigrant success story.

He fled Cambodia during the Pol Pot regime, landed in the USA, in Long Beach CA ( long beach has the largest population of Cambodian people outside of Cambodia ). Found a wife, opened a donut shop, lost his wife to cancer, kept working to put 2 sons thru state U , 10-12 hrs a day 363 days a year, for over 30 years.

Sold the business , today was his last day as the owner.

No pension, just retired.

The lady who bought the shop is also Cambodian, but definitely not this one :

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[SnowBound]

30 years, 363 days a year, 11 hours a day: That is a lot of donuts. Hopefully they provided a happy retirement.

 

[ckelly78z]

Evidently it is no longer "time to make the donuts" for him.

 

[CaptTom]

Thanks, I think we all need a feel-good story about an immigrant right about now.

My hat is off to that gentleman. He is a true American!

 

[CardsFan]

Great story, and I am sure just one of millions. Its amazing how many people have come to the US (LEGALLY), with little or no money, but the right attitude, and have become successful.

 

[Scrapr]

Evidently it is no longer "time to make the donuts" for him.

LOL....I say that on occasion to my wife when it's time to do something I don't want to do.

A local chain of shops has much the same story. He came to Cali...might even have been Long Beach and worked in "donuts". Then moved to Portland and bought a store. He has several locations now. I was in the original and there was a book on the counter about the shops. His face was on the cover. Just then the founder walks out of the donut room. I pick up the book and look at both...and bought it.They are always donating donuts to the schools and other orgs

 

[Lakewood90712]

Update - Retired donut man goes to Hawaii

Update, the retired former donut shop owner goes on vacation, first time in decades. His son's are taking him to Hawaii- quite a change from midnight every day frying donuts.

 

[Montecfo]

30 years, 363 days a year, 11 hours a day: That is a lot of donuts. Hopefully they provided a happy retirement.

that is definitely long enough to get tired of the hole business.

:: rimshot ::

 

[Red Badger]

Just another success story (from memory - so maybe slightly off kilter). The ubiquitous sriracha sauce found in most grocery stores (with the rooster on the bottle) was/is made and sold by an immigrant boat person from war torn SE Asia (Cambodia - I think, but maybe other). The sauce is named for the boat that brought him to the United States.

One does not have to look too far to find genuine inspiration in this country. And sometimes - - - gratitude.

 

[CardsFan]

Just another success story (from memory - so maybe slightly off kilter). The ubiquitous sriracha sauce found in most grocery stores (with the rooster on the bottle) was/is made and sold by an immigrant boat person from war torn SE Asia (Cambodia - I think, but maybe other). The sauce is named for the boat that brought him to the United States.

One does not have to look too far to find genuine inspiration in this country. And sometimes - - - gratitude.

Andrew Zimmern did a segment on the company on one of his shows. Very inspiring story. He basically created a spice sauce empire with hard work, quality food, and word of mouth advertising. Check the company website: https://www.huyfong.com/ . Mr. Tran is from Vietnam, and the company is named after the freighter that brought him out of Vietnam.

 

[LARS]

Nice to know America can still be the land of opportunity for the tired, poor and huddled masses yearning to be free.

 

[robnplunder]

Nice to know America can still be the land of opportunity for the tired, poor and huddled masses yearning to be free.

Yeah, people can make it here, not just in NY, NY. That cannot be said for most other countries, even for the natives let alone for immigrants.

 

[rocketjockey]

Just another success story (from memory - so maybe slightly off kilter). The ubiquitous sriracha sauce found in most grocery stores (with the rooster on the bottle) was/is made and sold by an immigrant boat person from war torn SE Asia (Cambodia - I think, but maybe other). The sauce is named for the boat that brought him to the United States.

One does not have to look too far to find genuine inspiration in this country. And sometimes - - - gratitude.

Close, but jumbled the details a bit

The Sriracha sauce is still made by a company owned by a Vietnamese war refugee. The company name (Huy Fong) is the name of the Chinese ship that brought him to the USA.

My wife's family is one of the war refugee stories as well. Fled Vietnam in the back of a C-130 cargo plane in the last days of Saigon. Dad worked for the Americans as a customs agent, so his name was on the kill list. 11 kids + Mom & Dad had $700 in their pocket and what they could carry in their backpacks. Left everything in the house and ran to the airport on no notice. Nobody spoke English except Dad. They grew up in Long Beach, CA as well.
Those 11 kids have produced an PhD Aerospace company founder (Multi-millionaire many times over), professional violinist, Dentist, 3 social workers, radiologist tech, medical device engineer, licensed nutritionist and many of their kids are doctors and a lawyer or two. All of them married into other Vietnamese immigrant families that are filled with doctors, engineers, and lawyers as well. Except my poor wife that ended up with a measly whiteboy aerospace engineer! I'm the only cracker in the box!

 

[LARS]

Close, but jumbled the details a bit



The Sriracha sauce is still made by a company owned by a Vietnamese war refugee. The company name (Huy Fong) is the name of the Chinese ship that brought him to the USA.



My wife's family is one of the war refugee stories as well. Fled Vietnam in the back of a C-130 cargo plane in the last days of Saigon. Dad worked for the Americans as a customs agent, so his name was on the kill list. 11 kids + Mom & Dad had $700 in their pocket and what they could carry in their backpacks. Left everything in the house and ran to the airport on no notice. Nobody spoke English except Dad. They grew up in Long Beach, CA as well.

Those 11 kids have produced an PhD Aerospace company founder (Multi-millionaire many times over), professional violinist, Dentist, 3 social workers, radiologist tech, medical device engineer, licensed nutritionist and many of their kids are doctors and a lawyer or two. All of them married into other Vietnamese immigrant families that are filled with doctors, engineers, and lawyers as well. Except my poor wife that ended up with a measly whiteboy aerospace engineer! I'm the only cracker in the box!

Great story on your extended family!

And my condolences to you. Must suck at family reunions! (Kidding of course.)

 

[rocketjockey]

Great story on your extended family!

And my condolences to you. Must suck at family reunions! (Kidding of course.)

But the food, man, the food!!!! And I have learned enough Vietnamese to know when they are talking about me and keep them honest!! And throwing a few Viet phrases out once in awhile is always a cause for laughter. Hardest language under the sun (along with the various Chinese dialects).