At the Car Wash

The first thing I want to note is, I'm sorry for being so late with today's post.  It is 9:35 pm as I sit down to write today.  This is not the norm, but I had family obligations I needed to take care of today, i.e. getting ready for Christmas.

A second piece of house keeping, there will be no post on Sunday, Christmas day.

Today, while driving north on PA route 309, into Quakertown, PA, I was stopped in a line of traffic right next to a car wash.  It was busy, what with it being a nice day and people wanting to get their cars spruced up for Christmas day.  There were all sorts of nice looking vehicles, all shined up, with chrome wheels.  All where expensive cars & pick up trucks.  You know, $35,000 being the least expensive.  The pick up trucks were obviously not really working trucks, they were too pretty.  I bet you know what I'm leading up to, don't ya.  All of the employees were Hispanic.  I'm not profiling, It was clearly the case.  Now don't worry, I'm not going nazi on you.  In an earlier post I noted that many immigrants take on jobs that that we want done, but we Americans are simply not going to do them.  Oh, I guess it's OK to have Hispanics in our country at that moment, when 'you' want your car washed, or when you want your lawn mowed, or when you want your garden tended, or when you want your crops picked, or when you the restaurant owner needs a dishwasher, or when you need your house cleaned, or when you the hotel owner needs maids to clean the rooms.  Sorry, just a little morality rant.

I work as a help desk technician to help customers resolve issues with their computers used for sales in fast food restaurants.  A large portion of the customers that I help are Spanish speakers,  all around the country.  It seems to me, though, that the highest concentration is in the southern states of our country.  Funny, these are the states where people opposed to immigration are the loudest about the subject.  So, why do you think I don't hear more white American voices, huh?  That's not to say that I don't hear some, but the majority of the voices that I hear are not white Americans. They are Hispanic voices, Indian (from the country of India) voices, Middle Eastern voices, Black American voices.  Gettin' the picture.  Marginalized voices.

So, what's all this manure about we don't want immigrants in our country.  We all want clean cars, but many of us are too damn lazy to wash them ourselves, and we sure as hell aren't workin' at the car wash unless the owner is willing to pay us a hell of a lot more than what he or she pays the current employees, and 'we' sure as hell aren't going to pay what would be necessary for the owner to make even a small profit if she or he had to pay white Americans to do the job.  Sure we want immigrants in our country.  We want them to do the jobs that we're simply not going to do, but that we want done.

A friend of mine read me a passage from a book that she is reading, written by  a woman who intentionally worked in a fast food restaurant (as an employee, not a manager).  Of course she could not make a living wage.  She noted that those that work these kinds of jobs are the true "philanthropists".  They give up so much, so that those that frequent the restaurant can have more money to spoil their children and to have nice pretty houses.  The author's point may be somewhat overblown, but for the most point, she is right on the  (shall I say it.......sure, go ahead Bill) "money".

Feliz Navidad y'all!