Kay: All right, kid, here's the deal. At any given time there are approximately 1500 aliens on the planet, most of them right here in Manhattan. And most of them are decent enough, they're just trying to make a living.
Jay: Cab drivers?
Kay: Not as many as you'd think.
Growing up it was the stereotype of big city cab drivers that the majority of them were not American born. While that may not have been the reality in the 1970s and 1980s, as the New York Times reported in 2014, only 8% of the city’s cabbies were American born. I’m one of those folks who does not care what nationality my cabby might be so long as they get me to my destination efficiently and safely.
The other reality at work here is that in many sectors of the economy, immigrants do the work that others simply will not. From farm fields to meat-packing plants, immigrants have, and will continue to have, an important role in the success of the American economy. Most of us on these pages fully understand that.
[Side note — I’m not here to discuss the abuses heaped upon immigrants in those and other sectors of the economy, but it should never be ignored either.]
Another area where the increase of immigrant employment has been seen is in one not traditionally associated with immigrants — long-haul truck driving. Depending on which source you might examine, the number is as high as 19%. Nearly one out of every five.
The other stereotype from my childhood that really is not a stereotype? Want great food? Go to a truck stop. I mean, seriously. It can be the best. With the growing number of immigrant drivers though, the truck stop food landscape is changing. More and more are catering to those immigrant drivers.
Take it away Laura Benschoff at WHYY:
Eat Spice caters to a unique intersection: where rural America meets an increasingly diverse cadre of truckers looking for a taste of home as they jockey between warehouses and retail outlets.
Located in White Haven, Pa., population 1,100, the truck stop has a clientele that's more likely to hail from immigrant enclaves in Ohio and Michigan than the surrounding town, which is 96% white. Here, the cooler of live bait coexists with the carafe of homemade chai. In the fridge, there's both Red Bull and mango lassi. Your choice.
I have often joked that food is a great barometer to see how demographics are changing not just in a local area, but entire industries. Food can tell us so much about who we are. Eat Spice is a great example of that. As long as the numbers of immigrants drawn to the trucking industry continues to grow, so will the opportunities for entrepreneurs to engage those populations. Gee, sounds pretty American dreamish, doesn’t it? Now...will someone please remind the current administration of this?