Political Mama

I live in a community that is one town over from Farmingville, New York, which has been a flash point for illegal immigration for years.

Of course I am firmly planted on the left of the issue, but just lately I've been wondering, what is the issue?

Because these people make barely a living wage, and are forced to live in overcrowded, dilapidated houses. They built my house I'm sure, and they're certainly fueling the boom that has raised the value of my house 100%.

Yet, here's the reality of it. Like I said, I live near Farmingville. I do not have one of these flophouses next to me. Having said that, in order to drop off my children, I drive by the 7-11 where the labor market is conducted. I wouldn't get my coffee there.

And I don't even know why. I know that these people are here to make a living. I don't believe the myth that brown men are just looking for any white woman to victimize. I pass them in the aisles of the supermarket and in my local McDonald's. And yet I wouldn't through their market for coffee.

And I'm very relieved that I live in Holtsville, and my house hasn't plummeted in value.

There is great debate around here about setting up a labor market. And here's where I'm left leaning. The argument is against amnesty and illegals, versus doing it "the right way, the way my father and his father, and blah blah blah."

I say open the freakin' borders. Let anyone in who wants to come in.

At its best it would be safe harbor for oppressed people, at its worst it would force not only us, but the rest of the world to step up to the plate, as people and as nations. We would have to do better in order to maintain our capitalist forbearance, and they would need to find reasons for their people to stay.

So far this week, in order of importance:

• My husband got a job! He's been laid off for the last three months. 'Nuff said!
• My two-year-old started preschool. We both cried when I dropped him off. I assured him that even though Mommy leaves, she ALWAYS comes back. He screamed louder. I called a half hour later and they said he had stopped the wailing as soon as I left. I believed them because the kid has lungs and the phone is close to the classroom. When I came to get him, he looked happy with his big boy backpack strapped to his back. He ran to me, gave a big pout, said, "Mommy left me." I now think guilt must be on the nature side of the nature/nurture continuum.
• I finished my attempt at a commercial novel, which I wrote in basically two months. Surprised myself by having great fun with it. I've sent it to the scout who convinced me to try it in the first place. Crossed my fingers.
• Reread the thing and realized there are miles to go before anyone sleeps.
• Decided to sell my house, so my husband doesn't have to maintain the two hour commute into the City.
• I stopped smoking yet again!
• Gave in and bought a Sirius radio--not for Howard Stern, okay maybe a little, but mostly for NPR.

This weekend I will:

• Rewrite, rewrite, and then write again.
• Go to a gala birthday (really a wedding from the sound of it) for a one-year-old.
• Meet my cousin that I haven't seen in over a year.
• Call all those people I haven't spoken to over the week.
• Find a second to take a nap.

Funny, it didn't seem so bad when I was planning it all.

I never had toys. My mother never bought them for me, and I don't remember really missing them. I got a thing or two for my birthday from other people, but that's as far as it got.

My husband and I, as we tripped over close to three rooms of toys, wondered what had changed? Are our kids spoiled? How come we can't stop getting them stuff? They're into trains, so they have enough railing and cars to cover the Louisiana Purchase. They like puzzles, so the pieces are everywhere, me always hoping to find that lost piece, knowing that it's a lost cause.

We were starting to feel like crap about it, but realized it's not just them. It's all the kids we know.

I grew up in Brooklyn, neither in a rich neighborhood, nor in a slum. But I can't remember anyone having tons of toys.

So what is it about now? Why have toys ceased to be an accessory and become a right? This afternoon I figured it out...

Ready?

It's China, Indonesia, Taiwan. Thirty years ago, a toy cost money. It lasted longer, true as well, but it was a treat. "The man" has convinced us that quantity is the American dream, and they've made it cheap enough so that we feel okay about chasing our tails to get it.

It's brilliant, really, when you think about it. Get them hooked and they'll keep spending in perpetuity. I wish I could say that we had taken some kind of vow to stop it.

Unfortunately, awareness is only a small part of the battle and immediate gratification addictive.

Maybe decline isn't the right word. Maybe the ascent, because I had a good time. Probably better than I have in years!

I always hated the pressure of finding the right thing to do, as if it magically, the rest of the year was represented by one night.

What I've wound up doing has run the gamut. Though I never did the requisite ball dropping crap, I've done interesting things.

One year we were in Israel where the New Year is virtually ignored. There they celebrate only the Rosh Hashanah (The Jewish New Year). They call December 31, the Sylvester, and ignore it for the most part. We were in Haifa, the port city so we heard the ships in the harbor blow their horns, but it was eerie that no one cared.

Another year we were in flight, on our way home from California. The pilot led us through the countdown on the plane. That was fun.

There have been parties, and low key nights where we fell asleep before anything happened.

Last night, we got the kids into their pajamas and told them they could wait up. They are two and four. The older one got it, the baby just enjoyed not having to go to sleep. It was working out just fine. We waited for Dick Clark (who did a yoeman's job, considering). We laughed at Anderson Cooper, and the ridiculousness of CNN trying to be hip.

At 11:45 it all went horribly wrong. By midnight, everyone was crying and desperate (myself included)! Somehow though, it was still one of the best ones yet!

Happy New YEAR!