I asked my husband at lunch today to think of something he takes for granted. His first two answers were a bit of over-thinking: plumbing and electricity. Then he went on to rhapsodize about how in awe he was that the walls held electricity and water at the flick of a switch or turn of a faucet. I told him I meant something of the more mundane variety. My take-for-granted thing was television. I honestly don’t think about it one way or the other. I just assume it will be there as it has always been; good, bad and often boring. I don’t care unless one of my favorite shows gets canceled or we are forced to wait for a “new season”. So, I’m going to ask you to think of something you may take for granted. So think about it… I’ll give you a minute… Take your time… Okay, got it?
Now I need you to think of your favorite restaurant-either walk in or drive thru. Think about the last time you were in a local park in spring, the botanical gardens, an amusement park, a ballpark, a football stadium, a soccer stadium or any athletic venue. How was your last vacation? After a long day seeing the sights, shopping or riding the rides how was your room when you returned? Bed remade? Bathroom clean and everything refreshed? Are your roads repaired, golf courses maintained, company offices cleaned each night so you can work in a clean environment? Are your grocery store shelves always restocked and the Produce Section full of any vegetable or fruit you desire?
I’m going to assume the answer to most of those scenarios (if not all) is YES. However, we don’t think about it. We take it for granted. We take those who perform those tasks for granted.We thoroughly enjoy the pristine conditions of the parks; the beautiful flowers, perfectly trimmed trees and shrubs. We don’t think how nice it is to come back to a clean room after a long day vacationing just being able to flop on the remade bed and rest before going out to dinner. The food in the restaurant is wonderful, the service impeccable. Those rounds of golf, sets of tennis and pickleball surely only required your focus on the game rather than the surroundings. Same with those bike trails being maintained so you can just enjoy your ride.
Have noticed slower service in your favorite restaurant lately? Or that the food, while still good, may taste a bit different than you are used to? Is the home you are having built or renovated taking longer to start, much less, finish? Is the roof damaged during the last hail storm taking what feels like forever to be replaced until long after the storm did the damage (ours took almost a year). Are the side and main streets or highways taking forever to repair after winter’s multiplying potholes? While it Might be due in part to global warming (more natural disasters–fires, floods, tornadoes) or the beloved tariff wars, more than likely it’s due to the ridiculous deportation agenda of this administration.
Believe me when I say rounding up drug dealers, human traffickers, pimps and cartel members is good with me. I’d like to them all to be gone; the bad guys whoever they are, wherever they may be should not be allowed in this country. But I think a few things should have been in place BEFORE the current mass round ups.
First, this administration promised this “cleansing of bad people from South America” in 2016, nine years ago. However, during the intervening time, at least four years of which were under the current president, some research should have been done. Law enforcement should have been contacted on a federal, state and local level to ascertain who these criminals were and where they might be found. Surely they must be on some list or have arrest records or have been reported to some agency within the government somewhere, yeah? Maybe someone should have been keeping track of them for an occasion just like we have now. Rounding up innocent persons because they match a vague or discriminatory profile is inefficient, at best and costly, at worst. So what have these nitwits been doing all this time? Wasting it, apparently.
I don’t know about you but I can’t imagine a drug kingpin, cartel drug lord or human trafficker working in produce fields, or as a busboy, waiter, dishwasher or cook in any fine dining restaurant—much less fast food. Can’t imagine them mowing at a golf course, planting flowers, manicuring shrubs and bushes. Can’t see them on a hot day replacing roof shingles or on a road spreading hot tar. Only getting paid minimum wage for their labors, working long hours with no vacation, no health plan and no cushy house to go to at the end of a long day. I’ve always imagine these criminals as being fairly wealthy, haven’t you? So why would they stoop to menial labor for low pay? I just can’t wrap my head around that.
All kinds of people come to this country for all kinds of different reasons. They always have and I, for one, hope they always do. There are over 160 different languages spoken in Aurora, Colorado—160! Aurora has a vibrant, fascinating population. There are great ethnic restaurants and markets. Where would the whole country be without immigrants? My husband is an immigrant. I in no way mean to minimizing immigrant contributions. Immigrants don’t do jobs no one else wants to do (although they seem to do any job well and with a sense of pride). Immigrants have contributed and continue to contribute in a multitude of ways in a multitude of professions: doctors, scientists, nurses, law enforcement, teachers, care-givers, the military, construction, entertainment, retail, government and education, to name a very, very few areas our immigrants have had a positive impact on our society.
Immigrants come here for the same reasons the founding fathers came: religious freedom, political freedom, a better life for themselves and their families-present or future. They brought customs, beliefs, traditions and ideas that have enriched us all. Why should any person be denied today what generations before them were not. A chance for a better life, a path to citizenship. They deserve to be here. They deserve to thrive here, to raise their children here and give them the life we ALL want for our children. To be whatever they choose; to be happy, to be free from persecution and fear. How can anyone deny them those dreams? We must stop this massive round up of anyone who looks a certain way, opts to have body art or doesn’t speak the way we think everyone should speak. We have to stop sending anyone who dares to exercise the basic right of freedom of speech, the right of assembly, the right to express their dissatisfaction with the ways the world “back where they came from”.
I hate what is happening in our country. I am angry that my “golden years” are being spent frustrated, worried and sickened by our current administration. So please, come and get me. I was born in Wyoming in 1949. I have a tattoo-two hearts entwined on my left breast over my heart. They are faded now but still a tattoo. I’m arthritic, asthmatic, on heart meds., probably type 2 diabetic, have poor hearing and eye-sight. I’m just the kind of person ICE and HSI feel they can bully, ambush and push around. Because obviously going after real criminals is just too time consuming.
Soosey’s Ruminations 