Friday night was happy hour followed by game night at the clubhouse. At happy hour I noticed that Pedro our longtime server was no longer wearing a name tag that read “Pedro” but instead read “Bruce” It immediately caught my attention as both our daughter and daughter-in-law had commented on our family message stream earlier in the day that they had had meetings about their rights if ICE were to raid their workplace!!!  Both said something like “I never thought I’d live in a world like this.” Neither did I!

When I asked Pedro about it, he looked a bit sheepish, thanked me, and said something like, “this name is probably better now.”  The reactions of people I thought were my friends were just to shrug their shoulders as if “too bad for him.” or “I guess that is his choice.” A couple were incensed, but not in a way that made me feel like they really understood the underlying issue!   It really took all I had to even stay for games after that.  I slammed my fist on the table and explained why I thought this was so wrong but I got no response, blank stares, as if I was worried about nothing!!!

This is not nothing! this is appeasement in the 21st century! This is what prime minister Chamberlain did in the prelude to World War II. We cannot appease Trump, or we will all lose our rights!!

In case you do not get it, the point of my post is this: We have millions of people in this country who pick our vegetables, serve our food, take care of our yards, and do hundreds of other jobs that “regular” Americans will not do. Yet, we rely on their work. Let’s not demonize them but rather understand them! Appreciate them!

Please write your congressperson or governor or senator and let them know how you feel!! I know the majority of us want justice but we need to make our voices heard!

Please note that I have changed the names, of servers and others to protect them!

Brad