TODAY’S WORRY
This morning when I got up at 7:15 I looked out the window. There were four fellows working on the landscaping across the pond from me. They were probably Mexicans but since I don’t really know, let’s say they were Latinos. They were working yesterday when I got up and the day before and really, every day. From 7 AM til 5 PM or so, they are out there in this developing community taking care of the landscape and doing construction work.
Sometimes we go to the Mongolian Barbecue here in St. George. We like it because you can see that the ingredients are fresh and the food is cooked right in front of you. Dining out is a very iffy business here so being able to see the ingredients and watch them be cooked, is a big step towards quality control. Anyway, as we walked in we were greeted by the hostess. She is Vietnamese. She has been there every time over the last 2 1/2 years that we’ve gone. No matter what day of the week, lunch or dinner, she is there.
I go to a nail salon here in St. George. I think the proprietors are also Vietnamese. It’s a mom and dad kind of place. Their daughter, Helen, who is four runs about. Grandmother takes care of the 15 month old baby, Brian. Helen and her older brother speak perfect English. They work together as a family unit to prosper. They work long hours six days a week. They have an appreciative clientele.
The thing that really bothers me is that there are all these people, new to the United States, who work really, really hard and pay taxes. What they want is for their families to have a good life. They want their children to have more opportunities than they did. They have sacrificed a lot to try to make this so. But almost every day in the newspaper here are letters to the editor denouncing these people. The letters say that they are taking American jobs although I am sure most of these jobs would go wanting if there were not these immigrants to fill them. It would be so much more honest if people would say that they don’t want these people here because they are not pure white and they are scary to us.
What should we really be afraid of, hardworking immigrants or rampant racism?