Those Dadblasted Furriners

Three years ago , my wife was operated upon by one of "them dadblasted furriners" – a gentleman from India with a hard-to-pronounce name. He was assisted by an American –born doctor,and anesthesia was administered by a doctor from Ceylon – whose name twists my tongue.

I got to read the surgeon’s report yesterday,and was astonished at the delicacy of the work he performed ,and the extraordinary measures he took to prevent the tumors he removed from "shedding" onto surrounding tissues. (He had no way at that point to know they were benign,so he treated them as if they were dangerous.)

Most of the attending nurses were native-born Americans – but some were "dadblasted furriners" : Muslims from Pakistan, Hindus from the Indian sub-continent, Christians and Muslims from the Phillippines ; an Animist from Nigeria. They all provided competent and compassionate care.

Sooner than I care to think about, I shall entrust my wife’s life to another man who speaks English as a second language. He is not -strictly speaking foreign, as he was born and raised in Puerto Rico , which has long been a Spanish-speaking part of American soil ; but many of his fellow Americans consider him an outsider , and are angry -because he speaks Spanish : a language they identify with the "uninvited visitors" and " undocumented workers" who cross the border from Mexico in swarms.

People who live near the Mexican Border can tell you stories that would make a statue weep : stories of "Mexican invaders" who view illegal border crossing as a means of carrying out criminal enterprises in more lucrative territory ; stories of pregnant women who time their crossing to give birth on American soil –at American expense – and thus achieve "anchor baby" status , with attendant welfare benefits well beyond anything they could hope to earn in their homelands; people who cross as part of a "re-conquest" scheme , and who hope to seize a viable chunk of American soil for a Neo-Fascist "Aztlan republic".

Estimates of numbers vary : 12 million is the "official" figure ; 20 million the very possible figure. Either figure is staggering in its implications !

As you might imagine, there are people – especially in the Southwest- who are ready to "grab their guns and take to the hills" ; who talk openly of armed resistance – including the assassination of elected officials they believe are betraying them – and there are people from the extreme fringes of left and right who egg them on.

By now, you will have noticed an element of "schizophrenia " in what I’m writing ; because , like most Americans , I do feel conflicted – and I don’t like it a bit.

I grew up in a society in which immigrants were fairly common. Right after World War II, a flood of Displaced Persons reached our shores and spread out in big cities and small towns all across the Eastern seaboard : people from Poland ,and Czechoslovakia , Hungary,and the Low Countries ; Jews with SS-tattooed arms and haunted eyes,who had survived the death camps; Byelorussians , Greeks, Armenians,Ukranians: we had them all .

Some grumbled about "foreigners taking over the country" , but the opposite happened. The country took them in and made Americans out of them – just as China,centuries earlier, had absorbed the Mongol hordes and made them more Chinese than the original population.

It shouldn’t have worked – but it did.

There were successive waves of immigrants : most of whom came in legally , earned their citizenship , and became Americans . In my state,for example , we made room for Hungarians , Cubans , Africans ,and Arabs , and opened our doors to shell-shocked refugees from Lebanon and Kosovo. Most adapted-and became part of us ; but the feeling is growing that we have attempted to absorb too many people in too short a time.

The rapid influx across the Mexican border has strained facilities in the Border states – and their near neighbors - to the breaking point : reminding me of something I saw recently on television .

A python had subdued an alligator,but could not fully swallow the still-living creature. The hungry alligator began eating the python-from the inside . Both creatures died – miserably.

The big issue with our "dadblasted furriners" is not whether they will enrich our lives someday : given time and breathing space, they probably will – provided we can find some way to keep them from eating us alive !

Comments

[doll]

I totally empathize with what you say.

[b]The big issue with our "dadblasted furriners" is not whether they will enrich our lives someday : given time and breathing space, they probably will – provided we can find some way to keep them from eating us alive ![/b]

I have my doubts, however, about your last statement only in reference to the Hispanic populous. My husband is Puerto Rican but born and raised in Chicago as I was. Since we moved to Virginia we are both struck by the arrogant attitude of Hispanics here.

My grandparents are from Europe and when they came to the US they embraced this country and made it their own. My father who was born overseas and came here after WWII joined the Army and is a Vet of the Korean War. They gave to this country and never expected anyone to cow-tow and speak their native tongue, nor give them a hand-out - let alone all the amenities these foreigners of late receive, especially the Hispanic people.

What I find striking is that of late these immigrants, especially the Hispanics, do not really love this country--they feel entitled to it and everything it has to offer. I do not see how they could possibly enrich our society with their poor attitudes and resentment of 'white' people--but they sure are lining their bank accounts and many are illegals.

We are a nation of laws yet we do not enforce them when it comes to immigration. It is too bad because now we really have a melting pot and the cast iron has worn thin.

BTW--I bookmarked your blog here under my blogroll at my site on blogspot. I like your blog. You are doing great! Hope you will visit mine too!

Cheers,
Layla [aka doll]