Lunchables

There's a significant difference between "having to work this weekend" and "getting to work this weekend".  One becomes a drudge and, unless you're an hourly employee, means no weekend and no extra pay.  Solidly " ¡No Bueno!

On the other hand, if one of your former co-workers, who's moved on to a bigger, better, faster and (most importantly) more lucrative career, calls and asks if you'd help him by taking on a project he needs done, well then, that's  a horse of a different color.  

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Provided, of course, you're not doing this out of the goodness of your heart and the remuneration is commensurate with your mastery of skills and the fact that your weekend went down the tubes.

Fortunately that's the case this weekend.... because Mrs. Juvat needs new shoes! Or something....

So, my usual Sunday of browsing the internet in search of pithy trivia related to some universe shattering issue has been put aside for to earn those new shoes.

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Also lost in the shattering of the usual weekend rut schedule was breakfast this morning.  Normally, Sunday is spent in Church first then a breakfast at a local restaurant off the tourist path.  However, as the morning broke with a temperature in the low 20's and a freezing rain falling, those were both scratched from the Ops Schedule.

Finally around 9ish, the conditions were such that I could drop Mrs J off at her store where she could commit merchantilism whilst I toiled after those precious slippers.

But as I headed towards my usual office space (because it's quiet, no distractions and the internet connection is WAAAY faster than home, Sarge, if you must know), I realized that I hadn't consumed any nutrients.  Desiring to rectify that prior to the onset of hypoglycemia, I stopped at a bakery in town, and ordered some sausage kolache's.  

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Yes, I know.  typically kolache's are made with pastry and jam, not pastry and sausage.  Yes, I know to do otherwise is "cultural appropriation".  SFW!  They taste very good with the sweetness of the pastry offsetting the savoriness of the sausage.  My money, my breakfast!

Now, this particular bakery, is owned and run by an Asian family.  If I had to guess their ethnicity, which I'm horrible at, I'd say they were Vietnamese.  The head of the household is approximately my age, so very well could have emigrated towards the end of those festivities.  The wife and the son's and their wives all work the storefront.  

Very nice people, very pleasant, very hard working and, much to my cardiologist's dismay, they produce an excellent product.  So....

How's that for Cultural Appropriation?  A 50% Irish, 25% Italian, 25% German born in America purchasing breakfast from an immigrant from Vietnam, who uses  French dough, and German Sausage to make a Czech pastry in a Texas town. 

Murica!

As I was standing at the register waiting to sign the credit card receipt, I happened to notice something, which clarified a lot of things in my mind.

A simple display of flags.  A couple of United States Flags and one for each of the 5 services (Coast Guard! Jeez guys!).

It dawned on me these folks are proud to be here, proud to be Americans, proud of our country.  Just like most of my friends, family and I.

That solidified a thought I've been ruminating about lately.  The knowitalls, regardless of the letters following their name (CNN, D, R, BLM... whatever!) would have you believe that all immigrants want to bring their culture here and don't want to "be like us". 

But, there really are two kinds of immigrants.  The group the knowitalls describe are those who want to be here, because they'll be supported and don't have to work at all.  They bring the bad things of their culture and want us to become them. The source of all knowledge, cites a term "Lunchables" defined as where separate cultures "co-exist" by being entirely separate and maintaining no contact or involvement. That seems an apt description for this group.

 The other group is those that want to be here, work hard, succeed and become one of us while bringing the good things from their culture to improve ours.  Like this family.


I see the "knowitall" Lunchable plan as a recipe for chaos and disaster.

Am I wrong?

I'm good with Immigrants from the first group coming here.

As for the second, well, if I wanted to join their culture, I'd move there.  Doesn't seem to be much of that happening for some odd reason though.

As best I can figure, being in the first group is not determined by the legality or illegality of their arrival.  The same could be said for members of the second.  I think that distinction lies within the individual.  I support that hypothesis by looking at our student population.  There is a key field in my database that defines their arrival method. 

Unfortunately, that information seems to be the Alpha and Omega in the ongoing argument on immigration. Legal=Good, illegal=Bad.  I don't believe that to be correct.  If you live between Brownsville Tx and San Diego CA, you know folks that didn't go through the proper channels.  Heck, if you live most places in the US, you know folks...

I'm not condoning breaking the law to get here, and I do wish it were easier to do it legally.  But from my point of view, I see  no correlation between the value in that field and grades or discipline, in either direction.  By extension, I do see a correlation between trends in grades and discipline and where you're headed in life (i.e. whether you're going to be an asset to the population or a burden which in my binary brain translates to Good/Bad).

I also think that there's a correlation with the trend in grades and discipline and the attitudes of the adults/chronologically advanced humans in their children's lives and the Good/Bad distinction.

Given that, I think the President's proposal for a 12 year wait to determine intent is not a bad idea and should not be dismissed outright.  Get a job, stay out of trouble and in basically the same time a legal immigrant can gain citizenship, so can they.

My 2 cents.

Or as I used to say...

"Fight's on!"