A Sign of Our Times
I went into my favorite coffee place this morning in Altadena and saw the above sign taped to the glass display as you entered the store.
This is Altadena, California, where just six months ago, thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed by the Eaton Fire. The blaze that roared down the canyon, pushed by 90 mph winds, turning everything in its wake to ash and rubble.
It’s not like the people living there have anything else to worry about these days. Like their overpriced rental units, far from work, causing grief as they slog through the two-year process to get their homes rebuilt.
Or that dealing with insurance companies is anything more than a quick conversation over the phone.
Now they also have to be wary of agents of the US Government looking for people with the right surnames or the swarthy look of those born somewhere south of San Diego.
I thought the late 1960s were a strange time to live in the US. With the Vietnam War waging on TV, and every parent looking at their teenage sons with either high anxiety that they would be drafted or, perhaps even worse, that they would run to Canada and never return.
But today, there’s no draft and ostensibly no war that we are being conscripted for, and yet a large segment of the population is on 24/7 alert because their lifetime of work here, paying taxes, contributing to the workforce, and generally trying to raise a family and live a decent life, is just not enough.
They’re the wrong kind – immigrants.
Interesting how times change. I grew up on a street in Brooklyn where everyone was an immigrant or the son or daughter of one. Some had lived on that block for 40+ years and spoke no English. These were Italian immigrants by and large. I guess we were the right kind.
And all this came from a coffee shop selling premium coffee and damn good chocolate chip cookies, and not the post office with their wanted posters. Nor the local police station either, with more of the same.
The message: Buy your coffee. Stay alert. Don’t look or act illegal, and if you’re getting into your car, stopping at a light, or revving up your lawn mower to do a job, just stay quiet.
Answer no questions, give them no reason to arrest you, other than how you look, of course.
All happening in the year 2025. For a second, I thought this was 1984. Funny how the mind plays tricks on you.