The Migrants

[itsmecindi]

I'm only here to share this because I have to.

I noticed a man and a woman sitting on a bench when I arrived for the night shift at 9:45 p.m. I didn't think much about them. I was too busy thinking of myself. Facing another shift with tired feet and an aching back, dreaming of my bed. Besides there are always people sitting on the benches outside where we take our breaks during the course of the night.

I found it odd that they were still out there when our shift took first break at midnight. I glanced at them and smiled and they both smiled back. He was maybe in his late forties, she not far behind. They were both dressed in work clothing, although he had sandals on his feet. They were Mexican, and I suspected that they might be migrant workers.

At two a.m. we took our lunch. I went out to the break area in front of the store and guess who was still sitting there. Now I was concerned. I could tell by the way they nodded and smiled silently that they didn't speak English. That fact was confirmed when I asked them if they were all right. They merely nodded and smiled bigger. I mounted a search for a bilingual employee who could help me figure out what was up with these two. Finally I found Rosa.

"Rosa, ask them if they are okay. They have been sitting out here for over four hours!"

She posed a question to them in brisk Spanish and it was almost as though someone had opened a flood gate. They both began to speak at once, laughing and smiling as they conversed with Rosa. The woman pointed at a car out in the parking lot.

Rosa, smiled and nodded. More discussion, more laughing, and then the woman, who I learned was named Juana, shrugged her shoulders and laughed again good-naturedly.

Finally Rosa turned to me to translate.

"They arrived here this afternoon from Michigan to pick oranges, but no one will rent them a hotel room. They didn't say why," she whispered then, "I think they may not have enough money."

That wouldn't surprise me a bit. Hotel rooms, even in our little town, are expensive, beginning at forty five dollars a night. Roughly what they could have made together picking oranges for one day.

"Anyway, they stopped here, the kids are sleeping in the car," she pointed, "and the only way there was enough room for all three of them to be comfortable was for them to get out."

"Are you serious?" I hissed.

Rosa nodded. I was furious. Everyday that passes I see more people like them. Following the crops. Expected to work for change and left to their own devices when it came to finding decent housing, being taken advantage of at every turn, used and then dismissed. I gazed at Victor and Juana. They both sat there chuckling about this turn of events and I knew that this situation was nothing new for them.

I have seen some hard times. I have been homeless, I have done grunt work, I have done without. I have picked oranges, and it is brutal, unforgiving work, and anyone who thinks it is easy is welcome to come to our grove and put a day in and then tell me how easy it is. My heart breaks for these people.

Juana said something else then, and laughed again.

"What did she say, Rosa?"

"She said, 'if they don't pick the oranges who will? Why can't someone provide a place to stay while they're here that they can afford?'"

"That's a very good question." I said. "They provide a service, they should be accomodated."

I couldn't give Juana and Victor and their kids a place to stay. I couldn't even tell them how badly I felt that they had no place to stay. I couldn't tell them how much I admired them for their cheerful outlook under such adverse conditions, or what I thought of people who would spend the night sitting on a hard bench in the Walmart parking lot so that their children could sleep in the relative comfort of the car.

I did what I could, which was to buy a dozen fresh doughnuts and a half gallon of cold milk for the kids for when they woke up. It was a paltry gesture under the circumstances. A pittance. But it was what I could do. That, and to shake both their hands. No matter how bad you think you have it, or how hard things are, there is always someone out there who has to try harder, work more, and is grateful for the chance to work, and I know a lot of people who could take lessons from Juana and Victor and be better people for it.

 

[Junkman]

Your tale is so true all around this country and this world. I remember back in the 1940's when I was a little kid, the door bell rung and my mother asked me to see who was there. It was a man with his hat in his hand and he asked for my mother.... she came to the door and explained that he was homeless and hungry. She invited him in and fed him..... gave him a sandwich to go also...... He then proceed to leave and made a chalk mark on the sidewalk in front of the house..... for the next few days, the doorbell would ring and the scene was repeated........ then it rained and no more people came. I remember that day well, because that is when I learned about the people that ride the rails. They were good people, but just down on their luck. The 30's and 40's were a very bleak time in the history of America. Unfortunately, history has to repeat itself many times before people learn ..... We might be the most powerful and wealthy country on the planet, but some of the people are also the most thoughtful and generous and the others that cause the problems never see it as their having anything to do that causes this homelessness ..... They should provide basic housing for the migrant workers as part of the wages.....

 

[kokopelli2]

good story. dont foreget that there are the folks that keep are country running! i dont care what anyone says. there are too many americans that are too good for this or that type of work. if it wasnt for the migrants and illegals here, who would clean up after us or work in our fields?

 

[itsmecindi]

That's right. It's the migrant pickers who keep produce prices down. The government is fully aware that they are here and they turn a blind eye because they know that if they ran them all off produce prices would soar. It would be easy to regulate these people. If immigration showed up here in Florida in November and hit every grove from November through January, they would catch them by the train loads, but they don't do it. Because they know they would be cutting the throats of the produce producers and their own! One grove after another would shut down and the fruit would rot. They 'pretend' to do it. Taking in little bunches here and there, just to keep up a good front. They could ship 'em all back to Mexico very easily, but they know better.

Oranges would be three dollars apeice in the middle states and up north. The same with apples in the southern states. You would be able to buy produce at a reasonable price only at the right time of year, and only if it's grown locally so that it doesn't have to be shipped.

Name one person you know who would work picking produce for five dollars an hour, with NO benefits or job security, and will sleep on the ground or in their vehicles and bathe in the river and eat out of a cooler if they're lucky enough to have one. If each farmer would provide even just a few tents with running water and one meal a day they would have pickers knocking down their doors to pick for them. Probably cheaper too.

 

[dieselsmoke1]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( If each farmer would provide even just a few tents with running water )</font>

That's a good thought, but probably not do-able. Local and state government agencies and the media would descend upon the farmer in droves. The farmer would face heavy fines for providing substandard housing. The media would portray him as running a concentration camp, a "slave driver".

There's a myriad of strict guidelines regarding sq footage, utilities, ventilation, permits, inspections, etc. that farmers must follow regarding providing housing for migratory workers. Most small farmers can't afford the cost of operating a compliant camp even if they wanted to. Been there, done that.

If these folks are working and trying to support themselves, they certainly deserve better than what you described. The government system designed to see migrants are well housed will also prevent any that are not from even the slightest accomodations.

I don't have a solution, just some insight into the problem and my opinion.