The Transporter Couch

All in all, I thought the President’s remarks were well presented, measured, and sensible. One comment I have is that he says these guard troops he’s sending to the border will not be “militarization.” I bet you they will be carrying guns, though, and that certainly smacks of military to me. I suppose he’s equating “militarization” with “declaring war.” And of course we’re not at war with Mexico, though we are in a “War on Drugs” which is in theory one reason we already protect that particular border. A war we’re losing, as well. And a “War on Terror” which is in theory why we protect all borders. Another war we’re losing, by the way. IMHO.

The ID card thing confuses me. It isn’t just the “wetbacks” who have to complete the I-9 form when they apply for employment. Everyone does. Does that mean we all have to have these I-9 ID cards? One more piece of identification to mess with. Of course I have a US Passport which is perhaps not impossible to forge but would be very expensive to forge, if the spy novels are to be believed as accurate. So expensive that anyone who could afford to do it probably isn’t looking for a job. But who is to say that the ID card documentation isn’t forged in the first place. So why not just modify the existing “green card” to reflect that documentation has been satisfactorily examined? And what’s up with the fingerprint on an ID card? What does that accomplish?

Next, the business about making people learn to speak Enlgish ignores the fact that English is not the “official” language of America. There have long been advocates of making it so, and opponents as well. But until Congress votes to make it so and President Bush signs it into law, you can’t MAKE anyone learn English. Personally, I think it’s just bad manners to live abroad (and I don’t mean just go on vacation for two weeks, but actually LIVE there) and NOT strive to learn the language. And since I live in a heavily latin-populated part of the world I’ve taken it upon myself to learn Spanish. But I have a facility with languages in general and some people do NOT, so isn’t it really my duty as a good person who appreciates his environment to do some of that work? I mean, for instance, if my friend gets nervous driving on the highway and really isn’t very good at driving in traffic, and I don’t really like it either but I’m better at it than he is, don’t I have some duty to do the driving when we go somewhere? The alternative of course is just not to drive on the highway with my friend. But I digress. The point is that Enlgish is not the official language of the USA.

And finally, I KNEW it was coming because it always does, but MUST HE end his addresses with “God bless?” It panders to his base. I’m not offended, but annoyed because it’s presumptuous. Other people might in fact be offended and the President’s handlers should know that and just leave it out of his speeches. (On the plus side, we can take comfort in the dwindling of that base. We’ve organized a pool as to exactly how low the ratings will go. My own bet is that it will bottom out at 26%. Not that it matters really since he’s not going to need a base for too much longer, and I rather doubt Cheney will run for that office. Anyway … …)

Yesterday was a day of boycotting and protest. Kind of like pears in LITE syrup, it was unsatisfactory. The immigration “reform” on the table is polarizing a country that has better things to do. I speak as one of the priveleged white males, which some would say mitigates the value of my voice, but those who might say it would be wrong.

I live in Texas, not on the border but not too far from it. I don’t “own” but I have a discernible interest in a tortilla factory. And everyone who works there is latino (I use the term loosely to refer both to men and to women, as I can’t stand the term “Hispanic.”) Because of my relationship to that factory I have come to enjoy many many beautiful friendships, a lot of camaraderie, moments both of depth and of simplicity, and always emotion. It’s not my job to oversee the matter but I’m reasonably certain all the employees have “papers.”

I took the time to talk to some of the folks who work there and by and large they were ambivalent. It would be nice if it were easier to cross the border, was the general sentiment, but once you’re here, you gain access to so many things. No one was complaining.

I talked to my friend, who actually does OWN the business, and we talked frankly. She… yes SHE ….. was a “wetback” 25 years ago, but she established herself and became a citizen and started a business and it thrives. She’s the great American success story, complete with all the drama in which we ice the cake of our stories. She’s an American of Mexican birth and heritage who clawed her way to the top and, while sometimes stepping on people to do so managed to make herself a sparkling star on a cloudy night. Everyone loves her. Everyone smiles when they see her coming. No one fears to approach her though she’s quick to say “no” in the nicest way if the request doesn’t suit her. And everyone loves the way she conducts business and the service and products she supplies. She is beloved in this community.

And yet, some people still call her a “wetback.”

I sort of derailed myself. Anyway, I talked to her about the “boycott” yesterday (her business was open) and she said, in short, “I don’t know what they’re complaining about. You work hard, you pay your bills. Trash comes in all colors. I know white people who live off welfare and I know brown people who live off welfare and I know ……” You see where that’s going.

Her message to me, inasmuch as she would care to convey a message (for she is shy and not political), is that people who don’t want to claw their way to the top, regardless of their ethnicity, don’t deserve anything more than what they get. She went ON to say, and this is the poignant part, “Brian, you see the turnover around here. This is HARD work! It is hot and it is laborious and I pay a fair wage and offer benefits as best I can and it’s not *joyless* work or a mean environment, just often *hard* work. And soandso never shows up because her boyfriend beat her up and soandso never shows up because he has a hangover and soandso quits because he thinks the grass is greener elsewhere and sosoandso is having a baby….” and on she goes. The point being that just because someone comes to the US looking for work doesn’t mean he really WANTS to work any more than anyone else, just that he’s compelled by the momentary need. Her personal stance is, life is beautiful but it isn’t easy and if you think you can make it any easier or better than working for ME…. go for it and have a nice life.

Laissez faire.

She’s not a coconut (a tacky term referring to “respectable” latinos meaning brown on the outside and white on the inside). She is very very true to her heritage and … she deserves a huge essay all about her. (Another time) Her sentiments ring true to me not as a white male but as someone that at some point will have to cast a vote as to a reformation.

I have lived all over this planet and met many people from many cultures and many walks of life and I have encountered many, not-always-friendly, opinions about myself and the US and the world and life and spirituality and reality and truth and reason. I am the LAST person anyone would ever call a racist. But I understand that bias is a reality and has to be worked with. I work with it through contemplation and understanding. Other people, who are angry with their credit card bills, take out that anger by moaning about “the Mexicans.” Or some other target. I started this diatribe by saying that we citizens of the US have other, better things to worry about. And we do. There’s much to honor about America but there’s much to mind. We’re AT war in one country, threatening war with another, in a cold war with several, in a trade war with yet a couple of others. We have internal strife on so many levels. I can’t begin to say how glad I am to live here, but I won’t even begin to enunciate all the things that are fucked up in this country, and yet we have a day of boycott because our borders are established. That just seems so utterly imbalanced to me.

The End.

Now there’s a big subject and nothing I feel like tackling.

I usually enjoy re-reading my posts but reading my last post about Adam and Nari I cringed in two spots because I made reference to ethnicity and it occured to me that such references can be misconstrued.

The fact that Adam is “a white boy” is immaterial to my liking him. I like black boys too. (Misconstrue THAT!) I was just thinking of him as this sort of hillbilly who escaped from the weirdness of being a hillbilly, and I tried to convey that succinctly. Actually, if his heritage is in fact important, I believe he’s Irish. His skin is very white and his hair is reddish brown.

The fact that Nari’s parents are of mixed cultures isn’t at all important to her value to the world, but I think the mixture of the cultures contributed to the dissolution of their union and to a snowball of things that made Nari’s life what it is and the beautiful person she is. She has an exotic look and is, well, less pale than her fiance. They’re not your Ken and Barbie couple, but they’re beautiful together.

That’s all.

Oh, and I disapprove racism.

Once I was waiting to cross a street and this woman started shouting at me. “YOU AND YOUR AYE-TAL-YUN BOYFRIEND BETTER LEAVE ME ALONE!” I didn’t know it was me she was yelling at until she hit me on the shoulder. “YOU BETTER GIVE ME BACK MY TV! YOU BETTER NOT COME BACK!”

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