In America

Several years ago, I had the pleasure of watching a quaint little film called In America.  Directed by Jim Sheridan, the film tells the story of the travails of an Irish family upon their immigration to America.  Much like having a child can remind a parent over and over of the wonders of this world, seeing America through the eyes of Sheridan's immigrant family reminded me of the wonder that is America.

I thought of that film today while at work.  As I've noted before, I manage a thrift store for a non-profit, and we cater to many different immigrants--Eastern Europe, the Middle East, south of our border.  This can be both fun (I wished a young Latina woman a nice day a few days ago and she smiled brightly and said "Me, too!") and a pain in the neck (many of the immigrants who shop our store come from countries where buying goods isn't like it is here--walk in Wal-Mart or Target, if it says $2.99 for toilet paper, that's what you pay--and want to bargain for everything like we're on the set of Let's Make a Deal).  Tonight a young immigrant woman (although I don't know for sure, I'd guess she was from Eastern Europe) was shopping our store and found an entertainment center she wanted for $25.  The stand was huge--probably 7' x 7' and weighing a couple hundred pounds.  Unfortunately, she had no vehicle large enough to get it to her home, but after a lot of broken English and hand gestures, I agreed to let her borrow our four wheel cart so she could wheel it down the street to her home.  Her father left to get her boys (ten or eleven) and I helped them get the center on our cart and out the door, and then watched as she held on as if it were a Faberge egg as she and her sons wheeled it down the streets of Utica, Michigan to their home.

Now I ask you:  what's the truer picture of the glory that is America--this immigrant woman and her boys full of moxie pushing their two hundred pound entertainment center through the streets of her adopted hometown, or some old white republican pissing and moaning about how horrible immigrants and immigration reform are?

Peace,
emaycee