There are many common themes between Alexie’s “Flight Patterns” and Adiche’s Ted Talk. In Adichie’s Ted Talk, she speaks about what it is like to live in America as an African. She mentions several different examples of Americans misunderstanding who she is based on the place she comes from. This is also apparent in “Flight Patterns”. William sees this ethiopian taxi driver and immediately writes him off as unintelligent and uneducated. However, once he finally gets to know the cab driver, William finds that he not only likes the man (whereas at first he didn’t want to talk to him), but he is impressed by his intellect and past. In Adichie’s Ted Talk she also mentions how she is ashamed of how she was shocked to see how people of Mexico are not as she imagined them based on media coverage. This shame is similar to the shame William felt once he actually took the time to get to know the cab driver.