Name: Ardeshir
Nickname: Mama’s Boy
Age: 33
City: Tehran
“Until a few years ago, my life was the Iranian ‘Jersey Shore’—yes, we download it illegally. My day was gym and body building, helping my father manage our 5 women’s clothing stores in Tehran, and partying at nighttime—only our parties are crazier than at ‘Karma.’ I should probably say that ‘Jersey Shore’ is the American version of my life 5 years ago, because I was living that life before the show started.
“Money was really great until 2009, when Ahmadinejad got re-elected or re-appointed, or whatever you want to call it. Sure there were sanctions then too, but that was a joke in comparison to today. Like I said, we made a successful living from our clothing stores, and were even making investments in other businesses and properties—we were doing our part in creating jobs, when jobs were already starting to disappear. I was making good use of my Entrepreneurship degree, and rewarded myself with moving out of
my parents’ house, and into an apartment with 2 friends. But in Iran, these things are too good to be true.
“In three years, we have closed three stores. As we watched the Rial devaluate, we also watched dust begin to gather on
the shelves of our stores. That’s when the dark cloud of awareness slowly began to hover above us.
“It was a hard decision for my father to make. A man in his 60s, the father of 3 (I have two younger sisters who still need to be married), and a man who loved his business like he loved his family. After all, it was his livelihood, it was his children’s lifeline, and it
was going to be his retirement plan. But the realization that the risk of keeping the stores open, considering the ever-worsening financial climate, was far greater than sucking up his pride in front of his friends and the community, and closing up.
“Nothing, absolutely nothing means more to me than my family. And although I’ve suffered from the poor economy, my father has suffered more. There are a lot people, and choices to blame, but I’m not a judge—I’m a pragmatic businessman. I can blame the British, I can blame the Supreme Leader, or I can blame God, but none of that will help. Realistically, if the cause of this unstable economy is the nuclear program, then it has just got to end. I won’t let the government save face, at the cost of my father’s dignity.”
Nickname: Mama’s Boy
Age: 33
City: Tehran
“Until a few years ago, my life was the Iranian ‘Jersey Shore’—yes, we download it illegally. My day was gym and body building, helping my father manage our 5 women’s clothing stores in Tehran, and partying at nighttime—only our parties are crazier than at ‘Karma.’ I should probably say that ‘Jersey Shore’ is the American version of my life 5 years ago, because I was living that life before the show started.
“Money was really great until 2009, when Ahmadinejad got re-elected or re-appointed, or whatever you want to call it. Sure there were sanctions then too, but that was a joke in comparison to today. Like I said, we made a successful living from our clothing stores, and were even making investments in other businesses and properties—we were doing our part in creating jobs, when jobs were already starting to disappear. I was making good use of my Entrepreneurship degree, and rewarded myself with moving out of
my parents’ house, and into an apartment with 2 friends. But in Iran, these things are too good to be true.
“In three years, we have closed three stores. As we watched the Rial devaluate, we also watched dust begin to gather on
the shelves of our stores. That’s when the dark cloud of awareness slowly began to hover above us.
“It was a hard decision for my father to make. A man in his 60s, the father of 3 (I have two younger sisters who still need to be married), and a man who loved his business like he loved his family. After all, it was his livelihood, it was his children’s lifeline, and it
was going to be his retirement plan. But the realization that the risk of keeping the stores open, considering the ever-worsening financial climate, was far greater than sucking up his pride in front of his friends and the community, and closing up.
“Nothing, absolutely nothing means more to me than my family. And although I’ve suffered from the poor economy, my father has suffered more. There are a lot people, and choices to blame, but I’m not a judge—I’m a pragmatic businessman. I can blame the British, I can blame the Supreme Leader, or I can blame God, but none of that will help. Realistically, if the cause of this unstable economy is the nuclear program, then it has just got to end. I won’t let the government save face, at the cost of my father’s dignity.”
© WeAreTheMartyrs 2013