The other night when I got home from seeing my family I had some laundry to do so I decided to grace the local laundromat with my presence. I thought it might be a nice relaxing night, I was going to take a book and be on my own for a couple of hours, able to get away and just enjoy the company of myself.
Well I got there around 7:30 and stumbled in with my undergarments, sheets, and clothes from the week before. I looked around for a group of open washers where I could set up shop for the next couple of hours. As I was putting my sheets in the washer a younger man (maybe late 20's) walked by and looked me up and down, so I shot him and look that made his buddies chuckle and jeer at him.
I then went to find a chair where I could see my clothes to keep an eye on the cycle. I pulled out my book and my iced tea and began to read. About a half of a page into my relaxing 30 minutes the young man who was interested in my assets came and sat down next to me. He started to hit on me and try and do everything he could to let me know that he was interested. I was blunt and told him that I wasn't interested.
He then asked me what the heck did I think that I was doing there. I told him laundry. He redirected his question, "no, what is a girl like you, (he meant white and educated and the reason I know this is because he asked me about SU) doing in a laundromat with a bunch of us (and he meant Latino)?" I then looked up and realized that I was the only woman in the laundromat, and the only white person as well. I kind of got a little intimidated and I think that he could tell. So he asked me about the book I was reading. I told him "My Friend Leonard, its about life after prison/rehab."
Well then our conversation took a whole different turn. I found out that his name is Roman, he's from Juarez Mexico and was brought here 5 years ago to fight in Iraq. I couldn't believe his story. The government had sent over recruiting officers over the border to the border town to get some new recruits. Well Roman was one of them. It promised him a better life, they told him that if he was smart enough he could fly airplanes or be in covert missions. This really intrigued him because life in Juarez was just not enough for him and he wanted a better life for his family and more importantly his sister. So the government brought him over to fight for this country. He served in Iraq for 5 years, flying planes and going on covert missions.
But now the government isn't granting him citizenship! He served the country for 5 years, and put his life on the line, thank goodness he came back alive, but the thanks he gets for it is being sent back to Juarez. Well of course Roman didn't want to do that, that wasn't an option for him. He tried to enroll in some classes to earn his degree but since he's not a citizen he can't get a decent job once he's done with classes, so why spend the money? So Roman is left to do construction work, even though he was smart enough to fly airplanes.
We had a long discussion about the war, politics, Hillary, Mexican-American culture. The stories that he told me about life in Iraq were horrifying. I asked him if he thinks that the media blows things out of proportion when it comes to the war. He said that they do spin it to make it sound like we are right to fight, but that they are also shielding our eyes from many of the terrors that all people soldier and Iraqi have to face in Iraq.
I asked Roman who he thought would do the best at president and to my surprise he said Hillary. Roman stated and I thought was ready to salute "I would love to have that woman be my commander." He thought that it is time to have a new perspective besides a white male. He also feels like she has the most perspective in what is happening in Iraq and in the United States.
Roman also commented on the lack of birth control in his culture. "I don't understand it. They will come over here to make a better life for themselves and then they just go and pop a bunch of babies out. How is that supposed to make life better? You are raising a bunch of children who will have to help you raise your other children down the line." He felt that that lifestyle helped foster assumptions and stereotypes of Latinos. "Latinos aren't promiscuous, but when all people see are a bunch of your babies running around and you can't control your life, that has an effect on me, that has an effect on the way all Latinos are portrayed."
That night was probably one of the most enlightening conversations I've ever had. I will admit that my ignorance and prejudices caused me to assume that I would be having to fight this guy and his advances off all night. But I was lucky, something happened and not by my own doing to get to know a fantastic person whose story I have truly truly been touched by. I hope I think about Roman a lot in my days ahead through this life. I hope that I will never lose sight of how lucky I am, the sacrifice that has been made for my safety, be involved with what's going on in the world and realize that when you move past stereotypes and fears that a lovely and intriguing person is waiting to touch your life. Thank you Roman.
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