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Some Wear Sheets - Some Wear Floral Dresses or Coming to A Neighborhood Near You
By Ruth Gamble
Greetings, Readers,
A woman walked into the city council's work session Monday afternoon. She was wearing a floral dress and had every hair in place. She had a pleasant smile and a friendly demeanor. She appeared to be an educated woman. She looked like a mom from a 1950's sitcom. In fact, if you plopped a bun on her head, Central Casting might have tagged her for a role as Mrs. Santa Claus. The agenda said she was representing a group called, "We the People of America."
She walked to the podium with confidence and a big smile. She was not from Cleveland, she said. She had moved here from another state. She loved it here, she said. They are so welcoming and friendly here, she went on. It’s why she and her family decided to stay.
How ironic those words would turn out to be coming from this particular lady. The room was silent except for the occasional shuffling of agenda pages and almost everyone seemed to be focusing on this lovely lady to see what she would say next. It began as such a flattering portrayal of our town and she was such a pleasant lady who seemed genuinely happy to be here. It was exactly the sort of tale that city leaders love to hear.
She plunged forward without warning asking if everyone knew what "anchor babies" were. She explained that "anchor babies" are children born of illegal aliens who are then considered American citizens because they were born here. She talked about all the services that the baby would get. She recited a litany of statistics pausing only once - as even she seemed to sense that her listeners were a little confused. She said "the problem isn't only Mexicans."
"Does everyone here know what an 'OTM' is?," she asked. No one in the room responded. "OTMs," she eagerly explained with that same smile still pasted on her face, "means Other Than Mexicans. There could be illegal Arabs who could be terrorists."
She went on to warn of the various diseases people in Cleveland are at risk for by being exposed to "them." One disease involved "brain worms." Slowly, as she continued talking, the room became more still. I exchanged a brief glance with a fellow reporter at the media table. He, too, seemed somewhat shell-shocked.
Still smiling, she proudly went on to explain how it was that she was "inspired" to form her group. (And by the way, I really hate it when people come up with these names that imply they are speaking for everyone. People of America indeed!) Anyway, it involved a "line of Spanish speaking pregnant women" who evidently had jobs that her "honor student daughter couldn't get." How she knew whether they were illegal or not she didn't say, any more than she said where she got her statistics.
She talked about Homeland Security training for the local police force to help them deal better with the "foreign invasion." She listed several national problems and she laid them all neatly at the feet of the "illegals." I thought about a time when another speaker who was far more eloquent laid the world's problems at the feet of the Jews.
She talked and she talked and the more she talked the more I noticed that people were beginning to squirm. People were looking down at their hands. People were clearly uncomfortable and the more she talked the more the atmosphere in the room thickened with awkward tension.
And folks, I gotta tell you, that the thicker the tension got in there, the happier I was. No one was bobbing their head in agreement. No one was smiling and giving a thumbs up. She had lost them. She had lost them all. She made the cardinal mistake a performer never wants to make, you see. She didn't know her audience.
During the break, I asked Mayor Tom Rowland about her. As I reported in my news story Monday, he told me she had reminded him of another lady who e-mailed him for months expressing her outrage against Mexicans until he invited her to join some volunteers working to solve immigration problems. He never heard from her again. Mayor Tom added that "everyone in America is an immigrant. The only native Americans are American Indians." Thank you!
I was chatting with Public Works Director Tom Grant when here comes "Mrs. Claus" to offer us one of her fliers. (Gotta love the fliers.) I thought of what Mayor Rowland had told me a few moments before. As I took the flier, I suggested to her that if she went over to Blythe Avenue, there was an outfit over there called Ocoee Region Multicultural Services (ORMS). I told her they are working to help illegals become legal and I thought that she might want to get involved. "I know who they are," she snapped at me, turned on her heel and strode away.
If you are worried about a strain on the system or feel that illegal aliens are being given unfair advantages, I would like to suggest that you first, take a good long look in the mirror, and ask yourself if these are really your issues, or if you're just unhappy with "OTWs" in general. For those who don't know, OTWs are "Other Than White." And there's a whole 'nother group for you to join and it's not called "We the People of America." Or maybe, it is.
If it's really the system you're angry with and not the people it is intended to serve, then you would do well to take my suggestion and visit ORMS. Consider volunteering to help do something constructive about the problems. You might just find out that life for these immigrants is not as easy as you think. You might just find out that they're not that different from you. You might just find out that they're trying to get the best for their families just like the rest of us. You might just find out that some of Cleveland’s most valuable citizens came from other countries. Maybe you can even do something to help. You’ll find ORMS in the Family Service Center on Blythe Avenue or phone Dr. Daniel Sylverston at 715-7049 for more information.
Moving right along - there are a few seats left for the Tunes4TheTroops luncheon to be held at the Outback on February 24. The funds will go to help defray the costs of sending CDs to the troops. It's $20. per person but Miss Kaylee, the group’s founder, says if you can't swing the whole $20., you can bring ten CDs or DVDs in their cases instead. Call Kaylee at 472-4078 to make your reservation and be sure and come by the CNN.net table and say hello. We'd love to meet you! I hear Zach Wamp is expected and there’s also going to be an auction! Sounds like fun!
Almost forgot: Kaylee says the luncheon is from 11:30 to 1:30. Here's what your donation gets you: a bloomin' onion and bread, a Caesar salad, steamed veggies, and aussie chips, and a choice of either the 9 oz. sirloin, the Walla Halla Pasta which is Vegetarian, or the chicken on the barbie. To top it all off, cheese cake for dessert. She had me at sirloin but cheese cake is my all time favorite dessert. Bar none. The best thing it gets you is the knowledge that you've done something positive to support our troops.
I’ll have some more “first job” stories for you next time. I'm headed over to Las Margaritas for some enchiladas suizas. Until next week, start each day with a smile, enjoy the paper, and eat more possum! And for gosh sakes, beware of brain worms!
