Berhan first came to the U.S. from Ethiopia in 1996 to work temporarily as a translator. Four days after he returned home, Berhan was robbed and beaten at a club in Addis Ababa. Berhan says he's superstitious, and he took the attack as a sign he needed to leave. He immigrated to Seattle and worked not only at a 7-Eleven but also at Dunkin Donuts, as a mailman, and in a chicken processing plant where he loaded frozen birds on a production line. (Berhan says he earned $6.66 an hour and quit the job because his wage was "the devil's number.")