Today, among a small sea of strangers, I realized that my life isn�t so bad. I took a break from the everyday selfishness of my normal existence to go listen to others who want a lot less than I have, and a deserve a lot more, and yet are in the right to ask for it without being labeled selfish. A group of workers from Southwest Florida gathered at a community center here in Nashville, just off of Nolensville Rd, for a bit of discussion time. The group is called the �Coalition of Immoalee Workers� and I had been indirectly invited to hear them speak by the lovely Emily. I wasn�t really sure what to expect as I sat across the street in the abandoned basketball court that I and several others had used as a parking spot. In truth, I was rather apprehensive for reasons I can�t exactly pinpoint. Initial impressions were a bit underwhelming as I arrived to a swarming mass of five people, even though I was a bit late (rare as that is for me). Late was the order of the day, it seemed, as the bus was an hour late in the long run. Around 11:30 they started piling in and soon all the vacant seats were filled, even the one by stinky, unwashed me who had no water this morning to take a shower. Being a white male, it�s interesting to be the minority of a group of people, if not unusual for me, having gone to a school where I was a minority, if not by a lot. However, it was especially unique to be one of the few people who spoke English, despite being in an area heavily populated with Spanish speakers where you�d think I�d be used to it. It was an interesting experience. The Coalition consists of mostly Mexican individuals, with a smaller number of Guatemalans, Haitians and few other nationalities. They represent � they ARE � workers from Florida who are in the agricultural industry employed for wages below poverty level. They work for companies who provide places like Taco Bell (who they recently won a victory over) and McDonald�s (who are basically trying to undo their recent victory). And they were there to inform me about a lot about things I already knew, and more about what I didn�t. One of their current battles, which is head butting McD�s newly formed �SAFE� organization, is a simply desire; wages that provide a livable income. The desire for a raised income so they can decide with their own minds where their very hard earned money should go. Instead it seems McD�s has a better idea; to offer them gloves and emotional counselors instead lf more money. I�ll skip the almost required sentence about how gloves shouldn�t be a perk, but a common courtesy to such jobs as they have. I imagine what I heard during my hour or so there is what a lot of us have heard about before, but perhaps didn�t believe. Flawed country though it is, what I heard are the sort of tales you expect to hear outside of the US instead of taking place right in our faces. I was not unmoved to hear of the poor working conditions for abysmal pay and their desire for better wages. The general discussion of their issues worked their way into my heart without trouble. However it was the individual stories that made misty-eyed. It�s easier to relate to an individual than a mass, and far more moving. The main speaker, during her dialogue on workers having to labor, for free, beyond the eight hours that they are paid for, was politely stopped by a man in the corner who spoke up on this issue. It seems often they are asked (and I say �asked� in the most loose of ways) to continue working into the night without pay for their extra time. Whereas most of us would laugh in the face of the person who requested such foolishness, these people apparently don�t have the luxury. Often times it seems they are told not to come back if they are bold enough to be that �uppity�. This particular individual decided that his 7AM to 6PM shift, of which he was only paid for 8 hours as mentioned, was by far enough. When told he�d need to continue working, he refused. Tired, hungry and wanting much deserved rest, he had decided it was time to go home. Apparently shocked at this turn of events, the supervisor stepped from his vehicle and asked, �are you sure you will not be staying longer?�. This question was again met with a firm, �no�. And in an unexpected turn of events, the supervisor struck this man in the face! Again he asked if he would stay and our friend, sticking to his guns, replied that no, he would be going home and again was punched in the face. This was repeated several times until the boss of the supervisor stepped it to stop it and then took the worker home. There is more to this tale, such as the violent supervisor stopping them from leaving by blocking the trail to the road with his truck and brandishing a knife at our friend and telling him how he�d �not get away with making him look bad�. How foolish that he didn�t realize he made himself look thus. You just can�t get through to some people though. The tale ended with our friend clearly emotionally upset (good thing McD�s is providing those counselors) and drained. I didn�t learn what happened in the long run with the violent supervisor. Our friend was alone in the area, due to having to move along with the harvest and his family still back home. He was fearful to approach the authorities and clearly he couldn�t speak with his bosses. I don�t know if he ever got the justice he deserved; fear is a powerful agent. It�s hard to imagine this sort of event happening at all, let alone as often as it seems to. Even worse is that it appears to go unchecked. The event ended with appreciation, cheers, applause and a better understanding from some of the more oblivious individuals such as myself. Everyone was doing a march on McD�s of some manner, but I was required to leave before that happened as I was already going to be late for work. Perhaps I can continue later when I learn how the march went. It�s often easy to forget that the person across from you is an intelligent human being, when something like language gets in the way. I couldn�t understand what 90% of the people in that room said, but I heard poetry, I heard depth and passion in the voices of these people for simple desires; desires to be given the same rights as everyone else in the working world. Doesn�t seem like a lot to ask. It�s always going to be an imperfect world. Who knows what progress they�ll make in the long run? Maybe the biggest step is to open people�s eyes. Mine are wide open. (Their website is: http://www.ciw-online.org for the interested).
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