Mike said:
SweetieB wrote; but with all respect, we do need immigrants to keep us functioning. For example, I don't see my child working as a maid cleaning hotels or being a picker. These are jobs not many people want to do because they are labor intensive.
I think it should be a requirement that everyone when young hold a menial, labor intensive job for a period of time. Even YOUR kids and mine. You might be surprised how it builds character and an appreciation for a job well done.
You sound like you think you're a step above everyone else.[/quo
Mike,
Hope you are having a blessed day. I am sorry if I am coming off on the wrong side to you, but I don't know what my children will want to do when they are able to hold a job and that was the reason I said " I don't see my child working as a maid cleaning hotels..." That statement doesn't say anything about whether I believe in a young kid having a minimum wage job much less on the benefit of working at a young age to build character. One thing I have learned at a very young age, is to truly respect others, and don't label them without being in their shoes. I am hoping that you will take a moment and "walk" in my shoes for a few minutes.
I know the value of holding minimum jobs at a young age; my first job was during the summer after my 6th grade at a local pizza place where I worked as a cashier. Since I couldn't drive and I didn't grew up with loving parents; the director of my summer school program arranged among his staff to pick me up on their way to school. I didn't have a ride back, so I would walked what it is about 5 miles from the school to the main Blvd to take the bus to get to my work after having being in summer school all day. Since I have been taught good work-ethic and I needed to survive, quitting has never been an option to me. I worked there for a while until I got fed up with the manager treatment of me. I would be picking up both phones taking to go orders and managing the cash register and doing the daily sales accounting for him. It was fast, and I did great even with my limited English skills at that time. There is no better feeling than having that manager begged you to come back, but my character was strong enough to see that I wasn't going to submit myself to a manager that didn't treat me in a dignified way.
My next job in high school was working at a local hospital in San Carlos, California as a kennel assistant. As you can imagine, I picked feces and cleaned up after my sick patients (animals), and I was proud of that. It was one of the most interesting jobs but most rewarding because I was appreciated by everyone there. I would get there after school to come and clean up, feed the animals, and start the laundry for the other person who working during the day. On Saturday, you could eat out of the floor in the back and I would get everything done and cleaned by 12:00 PM. The doctors wouldn't come in during the week to the back before I started working, but because I take pride in everything I do, I did my job well and offered them a cleaned place to come and eat and interact with the animals during their break. As they say, "if you have time to lean, you have time to clean" and I don't like to waste my time or my employer's resources on me, so they slowly also brought me in and gave me more responsibilities in the surgery room, which taught me appreciation for what Veterinarian's do. In the meantime, I was also a Police Cadet, volunteered at the local library and Kaiser Permanent, tutored classmates in math and Spanish, and for some reason, managed to take Advance Placement classes, so that I could push myself to learn the English language faster. It was through God's grace and strength that I was able to manage my time because I grew up so poor that I didn't have a bed of my own until I went to college, much less a computer to do the required work that was asked for the AP classes. So, I would be the type of student who will be meeting my teachers at 6:00 AM to ask if I could be allowed to type in my essays as it was required for them to be turned in typed.
I know what work ethic is and what builds character. I know what it is to "pay your dues'" and take personal accountability for everything I do and say. Despite not growing up with the parents that most kids have, I never allowed myself to become a victim of my own circumstances. I trusted faithfully in God and He was my Father, mentor, protector, and provider all of the years when a kid needs caring parents the most. I was sent off to college with a $5,000 scholarship by a miracle of God and a bike donated by two of my teachers. I remember those days at Chico State as a Freshmen when I would be riding my bike across town at 1:00 AM after having been in school (I took 4 classes each semester/quarter) and then working on my feet as a waitress all day long. There were nights that I would my feet were killing me, but the sense of worth that I got knowing that everything that I was doing was because of my work-ethic and the values that I have learned. I would not change anything if I could be born again, because through these trials, I have paid my dues, I have built character, and I have grown emotionally, spiritually, and few inches physically. At the end of the day, yes, it will not matter how hard I will push my kids to instill in them good values, work-ethic, faith, and respect for others; they will be their own individuals and I can only hope that they will work hard like I did and value hard-work by example. I am not like my parents, I am not like anyone else, and I am certainly not 'above anyone else' much less, inferior to anyone else. I am just another person trying her best to stay afloat, live this life in the most responsible way, and do the assignment that God assigned for me to do in this life as Ella.
Respectfully, if you still think 'I sound like I am a step above everyone else' you are entitled to your opinion and I respect it be it right or wrong.
May you have a wonderful week.
Sweetbasil
