Interviews
Difficulties finding apartment in Chicago after leaving Minidoka
And everywhere we went, there would be a for rent sign. We'd get there, they'd say, Oh, it's rented already, rented already. And we never could get any satisfaction, and finally we found one place, the lady took us up to the second floor, and we were so happy because we thought, Oh, at last we've got a place to stay. But then she turned around as she went to open the door, she turned around and she says, Oh. And her face just turned as red as a beet and she says, I just remembered I rented the place.
See, she didn't know we were Japanese, or she didn't realize at the time, when she took us up. And she said, Oh, I rented the place, and she just backed down the stairs and away she went. And we thought, Well, that's a fine big lie. But then by that time, we were so tired that we didn't want to stay and argue with her. But that was the way it was; we just couldn't find an apartment.
Date: September 15-17, 2004
Location: Washington, US
Interviewer: Alice Ito
Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.
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