May march

They’re marching again in Chicago today. I can’t wait.

It’s thrilling.

Thousands of people united for a cause.

I don’t care what you believe on the immigration issue, when thousands of people gather like that, you can’t help but take notice.
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Speaking of which:

NOTICE


On Tuesday, May 1 we will not be open for lunch.
We will not have the necessary workforce to maintain our
high levels of quality and service so we are closing for lunch only.
We will open at 5 p.m. for dinner.

“Check it out,” I say to Jim the IT guy, standing in front of the hostess counter at Lalo’s Mexican on LaSalle. “It’s because of the immigration march tomorrow.”

“They come here and do the jobs no one else wants,” he says.

“Yep, and when they don’t do the jobs no one else wants, businesses shut down.”
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Your family is living in poverty. Every day is a struggle. There’s never enough money for food. There is no good medical care.

There is a job waiting for you in the United States. But you have to break the law to get it.

Would you do it? Would you break the law to provide the basics for your family?

I would. In a heartbeat.
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Lalo’s is a classic Mexican restaurant: Bright colors, mosaic tiles on the wall, wrought iron. If you’ve ever been to Chicago, it’s in what used to be Michael Jordan’s restaurant. There are small, brass engraved nameplates at each booth, the only holdovers from that heady era.

“That’s the waiter from La Margarita,” says Jim the IT guy, taking a tortilla chip out of the freshly delivered basket.

“Really?” I say. “We should ask him what happened.”

La Margarita was our favorite Mexican restaurant in the Loop. It was reliably good food. And Francisco, our regular waiter, was fabulous – the kind of guy who’s there with a Diet Pepsi refill before you even think of asking.

It was a great place to take new employees for their welcome lunches and we always looked forward to it.

But at five city blocks away, it was a bit of a cold blustery hike in the winter. So a few weeks ago when the weather finally turned warm, we set out for our old standby – only to discover it was gone. Shut down. As if it was never there.

“They give us no notice,” Francisco tells us. “On December 22, I work. On December 26, I come and it is closed. They say nothing. I work there 11 years, nothing.”

Francisco, who worked the part-time lunch shift, went on to explain how bad he felt for the full time employees who were left jobless.

“This is why I always have two job,” he says. “You never know what happen.”
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Businesses benefit from having illegal immigrants here because they do the shit jobs that no one else wants for low wages. And they don’t complain because they can’t complain – they’re here illegally.

Businesses hire illegal immigrants to avoid paying fair wages and health insurance.

Businesses are breaking the law.

Why are we so quick to blame poor brown people for the problems created by greedy white people?
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Francisco is not serving up Diet Pepsi refills at Lalo’s today.

There’s no way of knowing if he is participating in the march.

But I know he’s a good guy. He works his ass off. Two jobs.
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I am listening to: Ne-Yo - Because of You
I am reading: Nothing
And I am: Grateful