Republican anti-immigrant attitudes have made my vanilla American life harder.
The two Hispanic guys at Ace Hardware who knew where everything was, and who would deliver and assemble big stuff on my deck for me, disappeared this spring. I wanted a new deck swing, one I could get my aging body out of, and the cashier said sorry, they didn’t assemble anymore.
But one new guy offered to. I looked at a floor model, paid, and waited on delivery and assembly. And waited. And waited.
Until my neighbor called and wanted to know about the swing in front of his garage.
And there it was. The floor model, not a new one, placed in front of his garage.
Okay, at least it was fairly new, and my neighbors brought it over to my deck.
But the middle eastern folk running Dunkin Donuts have gone. Now I am waited on, slowly, by a bunch of high schoolers who stand around and chatter while the cashier stops to box my orders.
I used to see two employees fill my two orders while the cashier took the next customer.
The competent employees, and managers, have fled. I’m stuck with watching kids who don’t know that they could work smarter and earn tips.
I mean, okay, my neighbors or grandkids can help assemble the next grill or deck furniture I order.
But now the Republicans have messed with my Sunday morning donuts order! Enough is enough!