I ran across something yesterday that surprised me. I should have thought of it but hadn’t until a lovely Mexican employee at a shop I frequent told me about it. She can’t speak Spanish. No sin. Her parents were probably born here or they entered the United States legally. They wanted to give their children a good life. The did what a lot of immigrants do – they adapted the culture of the country they lived in. They’re not ashamed to be Mexican but they didn’t want their children to suffer because they couldn’t speak English. When I told her that lately I go places and I can’t understand a word being said. I haven’t left town or the U.S., I’m in a local shop, but I’m the one who can’t understand a word being said. She said she thought it was rude. I agree with her. But one thing she said that really stood out, that she has Mexican customers who automatically speak Spanish to her assuming that she speaks it (don’t forget most companies only hire those who are bi-lingual in my state).

I’ve even had others who have told me that to solve the problem of my lack of understanding others, I should learn to speak Spanish. I don’t think so. I have had three years of Spanish in school. I can understand a lot of it. And if I go down to Mexico on vacation, I do use it. I won’t to make myself heard in this country.

I feel badly for those who are Mexican and are treated differently because Spanish isn’t their 1st language. They consider themselves Americans and many are citizens. They don’t deny their culture, they embrace it but first and foremost, they embrace the United States.

Another friend with the same problem pointed out a shirt she bought on-line recently. She said she wears it occasionally. Those who speak English assume she’s saying she doesn’t speak English. Those who speak Spanish realize she doesn’t speak Spanish.

I am probably dreaming, but I want my government to consider me when making decisions about the United States. I want them to wonder if my life will be better or worse if amnesty is granted to millions of people who broke the law to come into this country. I want them to be sure it isn’t worse. I wasn’t born in the United States. My mother was an English war bride. who brought my brother and I over on the first ship of English war brides after WWII. In order to be able to board the ship, my mother had to go to several offices to get the necessary papers. I was young when she started the quest for paperwork and even though my father was a U.S. serviceman, she had to go through all the paperwork.

I’m definitely not against anyone legally coming to this country. It is a melting pot and it’s what this country was founded on. When my mother arrived here, she didn’t have a language barrier, but I’m sure as my grandparents had to learn to speak English when they arrived here from Poland, my mother would have also. Many of the holidays are different in England then they are here. But my mother would celebrate the holidays of this country. She’d tell us about the English holidays. She celebrated Thanksgiving – thankful her new country’s history. She was here for ten years and then she became a citizen of the U.S. We have a very special place in our hearts for England. But, we have a loyalty and a love for the United States.

But now millions of people may receive amnesty for their crime of sneaking into this country. A reward for doing wrong? I would get in more trouble for speeding – and would pay a bigger fine than someone else is punished for – for sneaking in to the U.S. They knew when they came here that it was illegal. They come here, they don’t learn the language, they keep their own traditions, they get financial aid and medical. We hear of our Veterans’ hospitals being overcrowded and without the proper care for our troops who have put their lives on the line for us. I wonder sometimes how hard it must be for soldiers coming home only to be in a country where English is becoming the second language.

It would be so different accepting these people if they were honest and if they would come to learn about the U.S. instead of expecting it to change for them. I’m writing this and I’m amazed.

I don’t like going out shopping and running errands all day and not hearing one person speak English. I’m the one in the foreign country. How horrible it is that I can be at the bank, the market, anyplace – and I can’t understand one word that anyone is saying? A friend of mine had two instances last week where the employees of the places she was shopping at couldn’t speak English. She said it was a lucky thing she learned Spanish in high school so she could speak to them. I think it’s sad that she feels that she’s lucky she knows Spanish – I think she would have been lucky to have them speak to her in English.

It’s said that Mexicans are taking the jobs that those in the U.S. don’t want. They work as cheap labor – even though statistics say that this isn’t really true. I haven’t heard anyone say that now it’s harder for someone who speaks English only to get a job because most jobs now require Spanish also. I imagine that about 75% of the jobs that were once available – aren’t now unless you’re bilingual. I guess it isn’t being said because English isn’t considered the first language. Yesterday was Memorial Day. How many illegal aliens took time during the day to honor our dead? To honor all of the men and women who have given their lives for our freedom? Would they raise an American flag?

Even if one little thing were changed – let it be that anyone who wants to live in our big beautiful country – must learn English. But, we’ve given them no incentive – everything is in Spanish.

Last week in the market, the man in front of me in line was going on and on about amnesty. I noticed one of the ladies from the pharmacy walk by and gave him a “look”. She had taken his remarks personally. This isn’t about everyone. It’s about those who sneak across the borders – whether from Canada or Mexico. I live in SoCal, so there are more illegal Mexicans here. It’s about those who have no desire to work to make this a better country. It’s about those who don’t want to grow with the two cultures but who want to keep theirs – and no others. It’s about those who wave the flag of Mexico while living off the taxpayers of the United States.

I don’t want any American soldier to come home and be in a bank where no one else speaks English. Or where another country’s flag is waved in his/her face. Where Cinco de Mayo is celebrated and Memorial Day, 4th of July and Veterans’ Day are ignored.