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8
April 13 • 2006
1105180
No Easy Choice
A
s hundreds of thousands of
immigrants protested their
status across America this
week, I wondered what happened to
that kid I met a long time ago.
I was a bartender in a restaurant I
do not care to name in a state I will
describe as Midwest.
He was slight, just taller than 5 feet,
with short dark hair, a wispy mous-
tache and'a face that was youthful and
old at the same time.
-
He could barely speak English; oth-
ers translated for him. Language skills
are unnecessary if your job descrip-
tion is to scrub pots, stack
plates and clean the grill
area at the end of the
night. He worked for next
to nothing, and his pay
was either'off the books
or through a borrowed
Social Security number.
I didn't know how he or
the other dihwashers and
Hispanic kitchen workers
got their menial positions
at the restaurant, but it
didn't matter to anyone wild worked
there, as long as the job got done. They
never missed a day of work, they all
had families back home, and they all
sent most of their paychecks there.
When they took vacations they went
home, and were treated as royalty,
because they supported their families
and villages with their hard work and
the risks they took.
A few weeks after he started, at the
end of one especially long night, I was
wiping down the bar when a big com-
motion came
from the kitch-
en. The kid
had burned his
hand cleaning
the grill, and
as the others
surrounded
and brought
him up front,
he held a damp towel against his bub-
bling skin. He looked as though he
was going to pass out.
The manager wanted the kid to go
to the emergency room, but as this
was translated to him, a look of abject
fear washed over his face. He might
not have had a grasp of English, but he
knew enough that his lack of proper
"credentials" could land him back
across the border.
He started crying at the thought
of what might happen — how much
effort and money it would take for
him to make the journey back to this
restaurant and a job his family consid-
ered a dream occupation.
After a quick call, the manager told
him that doctors would take care of
him in the emergency room, and the
paperwork would be kept to a mini-
mum. The kid's name would be left
out, and the restaurant would pick up
the tab.
A relieved and grateful kid showed
.up the next day, showing off his ban-
dage, but using the surgical gloves the
ER doctor gave him to cover
his wound. The kid was still
an earner.
Sure, if we send this kid
and all the other aliens back
across the border, we can
give these wonderful jobs to
unemployed Americans. But
the restaurants will have to
pay them at least minimum
wage, and the same benefits
as the other employees,
which will drive up the price
of your meal or put the restaurant out
of business.
On the other hand, if we grant these
illegal aliens "guest worker" status,
the fear they are now living under will
nolonger exist, and they will begin to
demand the same minimum wage as
any other American, which will drive
up the price of your meal or put the
restaurant out of business.
It's tough to get behind a law that
would make it a felony to be an illegal
alien after you've spent so many years
working
with them.
It's tough
to grant
those 11
costs
million ille-
gals guest
worker
status when
so many
others are trying to gain legal entry
into the country.
But you remember the night you
closed a bar, looked into the scared
face of a kid who was just trying to be
a hero to his family, and thank God it
wasn't you. El
Paying min imum wage
will drive u p
to you
or close the business.
Harry Kirsbaum's e-mail address is
hkirsbaum@thejewishnews.com