Mexicans and America’s Future

I had an enlightening experience this past month that verified a growing perception I have about America’s future.

We had some landscaping projects to do in our yard.  The first portion was done by a couple of guys employed by a reputable landscape company.  One was a 20-something white fellow, and the other appeared to be a 40ish white Barney Fife type.  The younger did 90% of the work, but needed a lot of coaching from yours truly, the property owner, to do the job correctly.  Even at that, the workmanship was sloppy.  The Barney Fife guy just stood around watching.  While the work was being done, I half jokingly asked the younger guy what his assistant was supposed to be doing, and he replied that he doesn’t do anything.

So I tried a second reputable firm to do the next set of landscaping tasks since the first one was unimpressive.  They sent over a team of Mexicans.  I must say, every one of them worked hard 100% of the time, they knew what they were doing without coaching, and they had a good time between themselves while they were doing it – they enjoyed their work.

Granted this is just one instance.  But it may be a representative microcosm of the difference between us “native” Americans who take their work for granted and those who are relative newcomers trying to make a go.

In fact, it may be this “new blood”, whether Mexican, or Honduran, or Guatemalan, or Vietnamese, that represents the future vitality of America.  There may be something to the perception that these newly Americans do the work that complacent Americans won’t do – and they do it better in some instances. These folks might very well represent a future hope and strength of our nation.

Note: There is no justification for praising the idea of “illegal aliens doing the work Americans won’t do.”  I was assured by the supervisor of the Mexican team that they have been “in country” for several years and the firm feels strongly about hiring only bona fide US citizens.