When Mexican-American writer Richard Rodriguez, then a college student, came to work one summer on a construction site, he thought that the three months of physical labor there would see him finally doing ``real work.''
Instead, Rodriguez' brief foray into the ``world of laborers'' as he had termed it, saw him coming to terms on what ``real work'' meant and all this became possible when on that fateful summer he worked alongside fellow middle-class Americans and (on two occasions,) with a group of Mexican ``aliens.''
In the course of raking leaves, shovelling dirt and doing menial jobs around the construction site, Rodriguez found out there was a world of difference in the working conditions of Americans and Mexican workers there.
And that was, the American workers were better off than their Mexican counterparts in their work place. But as Rodriguez had narrated about his interactions with fellow American workers at the construction site, he observed that all of them were not really all that hard up in life. He reluctantly admitted that most of the electricians, plumbers and construction workers he worked with were like him –they all belonged to the middle class. They would discuss vacation and school plans, things that could forward to other than toiling and sweating from their hard work.
And while both American and Mexican workers did the same hard work, he observed that the Mexicans toiled harder and ``rarely rest,'' completing their work as soon and as quickly as possible. Observing further the Mexican workers, Rodriquez also noticed that they were treated differently, if not, unfairly, by their boss. There was for instance the fact that when the Mexicans first came in, they were not introduced to the American group and were even separated from them during work. They were so grouped together that the Mexican workers also came and left for work on a single truck. And as if following some protocol or maybe even a given order, the Mexicans did not also associate with his group-- tending to work, talk and eat among themselves.
Rodriguez, in his article, would often described how ``quiet'' the group of Mexicans were, that even if they would talk with each other it was too quiet for anyone to really overhear their conversation. This was also the way they interacted with their boss as observed by Rodriguez. While their boss would talk to the Mexican workers in a ``loud'' voice, they, on the other hand, would respond in quiet tones, something that bothered Rodriguez as this reminded him of ``a gringo I heard when I was a very young boy.''
Rodriguez also mentioned one incident when he was asked by his boss to translate a message for the Mexicans and he wanted to engage in small talk with them. He said his attempt at friendliness was foiled when one of the Mexicans indicated to him (in his quiet way of course) that the boss would not be too happy seeing them chatting away. It was as if it was taboo for the two group of workers to get together.
Most of the time, Rodriguez found the Mexicans just tending to be quiet as they go about their work in their corner. This was again unlike his fellow Americans who were more outgoing and open–they would joke, tell and swap stories and mingle with each other while working.
Another thing that Rodriguez noticed and realized was the fact that Mexicans were paid lower wages than the Americans. He recounted an incident where he found out from the contractor that the Mexicans were paid in cash and ``collectively'' for the job done for the day. And while the contractor did not say how the Mexicans were being paid for their services, Rodriguez surmised it was not as much as they were getting. He mentioned that the contractor had told him the compensation the Mexicans would get was good when it comes to the exchange rate of their country.
After all of these observations, Rodriguez said he felt pity for the Mexicans because he thought they had been placed in a very disadvantaged position by their employer. He also felt angry for the injustice of it all.
All throughout his summer job, Rodriguez found out he also stood apart from the Mexicans. While he was just like them willing to work hard and like them possessing dark skin as Mexicans tend to have, he said he was ``different'' from them in stature and in going after what he wants in life.
Years after that summer job, Rodriguez, now a writer, narrated how he had prospered and can afford the luxuries of life such as staying on grand hotels and other places. At one point, he even said that people would not say he was disadvantaged just because of the color of his skin.
And looking back at that summer job at the construction site, he said what set him apart from the Mexicans was ``his attitude, and my imagination of myself'' – indicating that it was his ambition to strive further in life that made all the difference.
Rodriguez also attributed his good education background of having helped him get through with life and its harshness. That is, unlike the ``quiet'' Mexican workers, he has a voice -- he could ``speak up, challenge and make demands.''
His description of the Mexican workers as being ``profoundly alien,'' ``persons apart, and without grounds’’ summed up what he thought of them. It was as if they chose to be silent and uncomplaining to their employers so they could keep their jobs and consequently ensure that there would be food on their table regularly. In the end, he said that summer job made him realized that he had not done real work as much as the Mexicans.
He and co-workers may have toiled under the sun just like them for three months, but their life was not as bad as the Mexicans. Not only were they not treated unfairly by their employers like the Mexican workers, but being a part of the middle class, their choices in life were not as limited as their counterparts. Their hierarchy in society also somehow gave them a better chance of prospering and for them to go after their dreams.
The Mexican workers, on the other hand, were poor and have no choice but to work even if it means they would be under hard or even miserable conditions. Or even if it means they would have to accept lower wages, all in the name of survival.
REFERENCES:
Nadell, Judith, John A Langan and Eliza A Comodromos. The Longman Reader. London: Longman, 2009.
Rodriguez, Richard. Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez. New York: Bantam, 2004.
