The hardship of the migrants workers face is troubling. One of the most disheartening parts of the selections was the description of his acid dried hands. We have been studying in class a lot about the practices of the food and agricultural industry and the things they do to maximize profit. I am sure
labor safety and protection is done haphazardly or not at all. Laws are one the books, bu
t I doubt they are enforced all that well. I am not exactly sure why the family has to pack up their things, but I suspect they fear deportation. While reading the passage I was reminded of the movie "
A Day Without a Mexican" Immigrants like so many other immigrant groups before them do a lot of societies grunt work.
The passage while being narrated by a child has a lucid simplicity that really drew me in to their seemingly rootless lives as migrant workers. Even though they are forced to move around just to eat it seems the people in the story try hard to give themselves a sense of place and of family in a life full of brutally hard work.
In the reading I got the impression that the family was pretty well connected and loving toward each other. Many times poverty brings about abuse and added stress but I did not get that from the reading. I saw a family that loved each other and pulled together to do the best they could.
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