I've been writing this diary in my head since yesterday.
Maybe it should have stayed there.
But I'm putting it out here for you to see so that I can sort through what's in my head and learn from what's in yours.
So what's this all about? Well, simply put, my views on immigration are closer to Bush's than to, say, yours.
First I'll share my ancestry. My maternal grandparents came here when they were young. My grandmother, at 13, from Austria. My grandfather, several years older when he arrived, came from Russia. On my dad's side, you have to go back to the Mayflower to find an ancestor who was not born in the US.
I live in Connecticut in a not-very-diverse small town. My colleagues represent about a dozen countries. I was employed many years ago by a company that hired the majority of it's workforce from the immigrant population. I learned a few things then. Perhaps that experience helped me form my views today.
So what about those views? Well, first, I'll say that one should not read into this that I have an issue with folks coming here to live from another country. I guess I just have certain expectations of the citizens of this country. Native and otherwise.
1. As long as you are physically capable, support your family, and contribute to the economy. Many of the people I worked with years ago lived together, cramped into one apartment. They spent as little money as they could, saving every penny so they could go back to their country of origin and "live like kings." This is what they told me. I have a problem with that.
2. Please learn English. And speak it. I'm not asking you to give up your culture. I'm asking you to be a part of mine. Every single day I deal with people who speak their native language whenever they are together. In the lunchroom, in the lab. If there are two people who speak this particular language, they speak it, regardless of who else is there. You can't help but feel that they are talking about you. It's simply bad manners. We were all taught that it isn't polite to whisper. It isn't polite to speak a language no one else knows, either.
3. I know the system sucks. I know it needs work. A lot of it. And I know that I have no idea what the answers are. But coming into this country undocumented is not the answer. Come here, but follow the rules. As for those who are already here without documentation--stay. Let's work this out--amnesty. Let's work to fix the system so that people who want or need to come here can do it legitimately.
That's really all I feel like putting out there for now. I'll stick around and take my beatings for a bit before I go to bed. But if you disagree with me, and many of you do, please consider teaching me, instead of flaming me.