Author Archives: Maria Langer

The Immigration Crisis

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Some thoughts on a topic I can’t seem to make a decision about.

I live in Arizona, where Mexican workers are common. They do landscaping work, house cleaning, and construction work. They work hard and they do jobs most Americans don’t want to do — for less pay than most Americans are willing to accept.

I used to think that letting in a lot of foreigners wasn’t a good thing because Americans were losing jobs. But I don’t think that’s the case anymore. I think foreigners are willing and able to do certain jobs better than their American counterparts. (The other jobs are just being sent out to India.)

Arizona has a terrible problem with illegal immigrants. It’s not just that they’re coming over the border all the time. It’s that there is a market for people to move them, people who don’t really care about their human cargo. They take the money and all to often, get these people hurt or even killed. Crossing the desert without enough water. Locked in the back of abandoned trucks. The Mexican people are so desperate to come to this country that they put their trust in people who don’t deserve it and a lot of them die.

Part of me says to shut down the borders, build walls or fences, and send back all the illegals. Another part of me feels bad for these people, who just want to make a better life for themselves and can’t afford the paperwork or legal fees to get it done on the fast track. But I don’t believe in amnesty; I believe in following the rules that exist.

Why do we have this problem? Why can’t we enforce our own rules?

And then again, I do have a sneaking suspicion that the only reason this “crisis” is taking up so much of the news these days is because the current administration is trying to get our minds off the bigger problem — Iraq. Smoke and mirrors.

What do you think? Use the comments link. I’d like some feedback to help clear my mind. immigration

Blogger or Writer? Not Both?

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An article and podcast from a former blogger.

I listened to the podcast first. It was in my iPod after updating yesterday, among the other Slate Magazine Podcasts. Its title sent a chill down my spine, “Stop Blogging, Start Writing.”

But the interview with the author left me with the sneaking suspicion that her “last entry” was just an attempt to get some publicity. She sounded like a giggly airhead. She admitted that she had trouble “following up” with potential assignments. Hell, she claims she’d been contacted by “several” New York publishers interested in books, yet she’d managed to come away without a single contract. Not much of a professional writer, if you ask me. Any unknown who sits around waiting for a publisher to play the ball for her doesn’t deserve to succeed as a writer.

Good things may come to those who wait, but book contracts don’t.

Still, the idea of blogging taking up too much creative juice, leaving nothing for other writing, remains with me. I looked up the article that led to the podcast interview:

“Why I shut down my blog” by Sarah Hepola. She seems to echo many of my sentiments, but spoils the piece with her last sentence:

Now, if I could just turn off the TV, I think I could finally get started.

Blogging and television? No wonder she doesn’t have any time to write! Or maybe that was some kind of joke? Ha-ha?

I don’t think that author will stay away from blogging for long. It’s rather addictive — at least I think so. Something interesting happens to you and you want to write it up in your blog, partially to remember it and partially to share it with others. You learn something new, something that could help others and you want to share it in your blog. You have a deep thought or a revelation of major importance and you want to shout it out in your blog pages to see if anyone else agrees or wants to argue with you about it.

But I do agree that blogging sucks something out of a person. That something isn’t lost, though. It’s just stored away for the future.

New York City from the Whitestone Bridge

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A photo taken from a moving vehicle.

New York City from the Whitestone BridgeOne of the great things about digital cameras is that you can snap as many stupid pictures as you like. You can then just delete them all without any money or film or paper wasted. But once in a while, one of those stupid pictures is a keeper. That’s what I think about this photo I took while Mike was driving us across the Whitestone Bridge, from the Bronx to Queens, the day after Thanksgiving, 2005.

Thanksgiving Day had been cold, rainy, and relatively miserable. Of course, we didn’t really see it that way. Living in Arizona, you get to really appreciate rain. So experiencing it firsthand is a nice thing, even if you had to travel 2,400 miles for the privilege.

The next day dawned clear, with blue skies. The kind of day that’s common in Arizona but rather precious in New York. We were scheduled to have our second Thanksgiving dinner in Queens with Mike’s family. Although Mike’s mom lives a stone’s throw away from the Throgs Neck Bridge in Queens, you need to take the Whitestone to get to her. As Mike drove over, I was enjoying the view of New York. I snapped a bunch of pictures and this one actually came out okay.

What I like about this picture is the ship and the airplane. I don’t know why. The plane had just departed from La Guardia Airport, which is to the left, just out of the photo.

What I don’t like about this picture is what’s missing. Since September 11, 2001, I’ve only been back to New York about five times. Seeing the skyline without the World Trade Center is still difficult for me. It was such a fixture in the minds of anyone who knew the skyline — especially people who regularly saw it from a distance in New Jersey or Queens or Brooklyn. New York seems somehow older and smaller without those two towers. Probably because the tallest building in the city is, once again, the Empire State Building, completed way back in 1934.

Anyway, I know this isn’t a great picture. The color is a bit weird and the focus is kind of fuzzy. But it’s a reminder of my roots, of life in the big city, where things are busy and vibrant and everything is moving very fast all of the time.

Sedona’s Coffee Pot

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The view from our motel patio.

Mike and I took Mike’s mom to Sedona when she visited in February. We spent the night at what I think is Sedona’s best kept secret: Sky Ranch Lodge. I wrote a bit more about that overnight trip here.

Sedona's Coffee PotWe had a rim-view room that overlooked some of the most beautiful rock formations Sedona has to offer. We spent the late afternoon on the room’s back patio, sipping wine and watching the setting sun change the shadows on formations like the Coffee Pot shown here.

We enjoyed the peacefulness of Sky Ranch and have already made reservations to return for a weekend in the autumn. We’ll come back with my Jeep and tour the red rocks and Oak Creek Canyon at the height of the fall colors.

Respect

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You have to earn it.

It has been suggested to me that I sometimes exhibit a certain lack of respect for some authoritative figures. I certainly can’t argue with that observation.

But the way I see it, someone has to earn my respect to get it.

I’m not some little pissant who blindly follows the leadership of decision makers just because someone picked them to make decisions. I have a brain and I know how to use it.

I have no respect for decision makers who lack the intelligence to see the the long-term consequences of their decisions. I also have no respect for people who abuse their political power for their own ends. I’m seeing entirely too much of that in Wickenburg these days.

Come on guys, get a life. Your domain of power is an insigificant spot on the map: the Town of Wickenburg, AZ. Stop milking it for your own benefit and think of the people who have to live here — the people who voted for or appointed you. Do what’s best for the community — not for yourself or your friends.

Until you do, don’t expect any respect from me.