Pok Sari and Pok Sim are a Cambodian couple that came to the United States after the Cambodian bombings in 1975. In Cambodia, Pok Sari was an upper-class general. However, after resettling in the United States, he has little choice but to take on the menial labor of being a janitor. This creates tension between this couple and Sundara's family for they clearly express that they feel as though Sundara and her family are beneath them. These traditional beliefs represent the aspects of Khmer life that Sundara and her family cannot escape even though they fleed Cambodia.