Replies

How many of us got our start in business by washing dishes, mowing a neighbors lawn, the construction trade, etc. No one gives a care how many are used to pick grapes, but if you talk to almost any builder, they'll sometimes be honest enough to explain how thousands of construciton jobs have gone to illegals.

I started by hanging ads on door knobs at 4 cents per door. I've literally walked to the front door of every single family home from the Mexican border to I-8 (N/S) and the Pacific ocean and Johnson Ave in El Cajon. I often started at 3 AM and worked all day long. That was 1972.

In 1973 I washed dishes, cooked, worked the fountain and waited tables at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour. That's how I paid for my car and all the expenses during my senior year in high school. I made $1.45 per hour washing dishes. Cooking was paid $1.55. Waiter was $1.30 plus tips.

In 1976 I was carrying 16 units of graduate work in pathogenic bacteriology AND working 42 hours per week at Radio Shack. Radio Shack paid me minimum wage of $2.25 per hour plus sales commissions that varied by season. Not a fabulous income for a 19 year old graduate of UCSD with a degree in Molecular Biology. The RS job covered my books, car and food.

Roll forward to 2000. My #2 son wanted to work at a fast food place to earn money for his senior year. The jobs were filled by Mexicans and a variety of Asian minorities. No room for a white boy. My son was not deterred. He pressed hard on fluency in Spanish. That made the difference. He got hired in time to cover some of his senior year expenses.

Today, my #2 son exploits that Spanish fluency as a real estate agent. He runs an office in Chula Vista where the customer base is principally Spanish speakers. He will have his broker's license shortly and full run of the office.

In both cases, working the low end jobs was a way to cover early educational costs to get ahead. Many kids don't even have a shot at that anymore. The fast food places a full of Spanish speakers and senior citizens. The Spanish speakers don't wear a label of "legal" or "illegal". You can tell. The point is that the opportunity that was available when I was in high school has been usurped.

BTW, before I could take a job that paid on an hourly basis, I mowed lawns, raked leaves, shoveled snow and washed cars. My parents didn't provide an "allowance". Mowing the lawn, washing dishes and vacuuming the house was considered a "family responsibility". I was permitted to use the family lawn tools to work at other people's homes for pay. That was the sole source of my money as a kid.

I worked construction (laborer) during summers in HS and college. It was a king's wage to me at that time.

That avenue is now closed off completely to our kids. Those are 100% "Mexican jobs" today.

Before I could drive I mowed lawns and did babysitting. After I got my license I was a busboy in a upscale restaurant and made enough during the summer to help pay for my school clothes and paid for my insurance and gas. The jobs were great for several reasons but the most important, I learned how to work. Youngsters today do not get that opportunity and we all are the poorer for it.