Recent rains re-energized the grass and weeds at casa ulitave (but not my poor peach tree, alas). The front lawn had grown about shin high. My next-door neighbor even mowed one stripe down my side of our shared fenceline, in an attempt to shame me into mowing. Hmph. Hmph! I said.
I resolved to mow on Saturday. Mowing my place comes in three parts - the front and south side strip, the little driveway strip (beset by overgrown treelings in the fence), and the backyard. The backyard was a mess. One entire quarter was completely overgrown by waist high weeds and grass, which covered the remains of a brick BBQ grill. small trees ring the fence and some sprouted spontaneously thought the yard. Old farm equipment and broken glass can be found strewn anywhere - I'm pulled everything from pieces of corrugated metal to saw blades out of the dirt. so to be completely honest, I planned to mow the front yard on Saturday. The back didn;t need a mow - it needed a whip and a chair.
Friday, yet another itinerant lawn-man drove by. this is a common sight in my 'hood. They come by, promise the moon and stars, do little work. He wasn't anyone I'd seen before - not "so lazy you can;t even pay his ass to work" Lucius, nor the neighborhood crackhead, Dee. He was a short, muscular Mexican man with a broad mustache over a wide grin. "Let me mow for you my friend," he called, without turning the engine off.
"That's okay," I replied. "I should do it myself."
"Five dollar," he called.
I was stunned. He'd mow my lawn for five dollars? I flashed my fingers in the universal "five" sign, fingers outstretched. "Five dollars?"
"Si, yes, five dollars."
"Okay," - you nut - "come on." I waved him on.
I almost immediately regretted our agreement. Five dollars wouldn't cover the gas in his mower. I curled the water hose while he lifted his newish John deere mower from the back of his blue Chevy. Inside, I heard his mower come closer and farther as he cut my grass. The mower stopped eventually and I went outside to pay him. I knew that he'd earn $2 in a day in Mexico. That didn;t make me feel better.
he had a weedeater out. "Oh no my friend," he said with a smile, "I have weedeater as well." I watched in amazement as he trimmed the grass around the old stump and xeriscape garden CM left, then edged the sidewalks. He kept going around the fenceline, so I finally gave up and went inside again.
I heard the weeeater stop so I went outside to pay him. He had a leaf blower. Can I say that by now, I was in a state of full-fledged guilt? Was I so guilty that I'd pay him double? no. I asked him how much he'd charge to tame my backyard - cut small trees, chop brush and weeds, remove bricks and rocks, everything. He and his 11yo did it for less than $100 the next day.
I've heard any number of opinions about illegal immigration lately. The conservative opinion seems to be deport all of them and build a fence. The mainstream opinion seems to be various degrees of guest worker provisions.I support neither position.
I support full American citizenship for all 11 million illegal immigrants. The walls, fences, and deportations are facsist - I grew up fighting the Communists. Now conservatives want to turn us into the commies, and turn the Rio Grande into the Berlin Wall or the DMZ. I take it back - I'll support the fence if we can build it and banish cranks like Bill O'Reilly, michelle Malkin, and Rush Limbaugh.
They complain that the Mexicans - let's be plain, they have a problem with illegal Mexican immigration, not illegal Brits - broke the law. when one guy, or ten, or 100 cross the border, they've broken the law. When 11 million do it, I call it something else - dropping the ball. We dropped the ball. We created an attractive nuisance, much like putting a treehouse in your backyard with a broken ladder.
As for the guest worker visas and all...they ring too strongly of the Three-Fifths compromise. I don't believe in anyone being a partial citizen. I don't believe in taxation without representation (lots of illegals pay income taxes and Social Security). Some states are already claiming more federal dolars based on how many illegal immigrants they serve or prosecute - this to me, is a defacto 3/5, demeaning, and should be stopped. It can only be stopped by either removing all 11 million of these people (not going to happen) or giving them full access to the American political system. Voting. Courts. Citizenship.
Today is a revolt against the things the Brits did to American colonists, like taxation without representation. It's a revolt against the things America did to my ancestors, like exploiting their labor for economic gain. The Colonists won their fight, my ancestors won theirs, I think the Mexicans are going to win this one.