OK...here's my take on the whole situation. I'm from central PA, where I never knew a black person or Latino person till I went to Penn State. Now I live in Brooklyn, NY where there is a LARGE population of Mexican, Dominican, Jamaican, Puerto Rican, Irish, Russian, Polish, etc...depending on the neighborhood, and many of the Mexican, Dominican, Puerto Rican & Irish are illegal.

I have no problems with immirgration...legal or illegal. My great grandparents came from Italy (mom's side) and Germany (dad's side), and both stood in line and filled out their paperwork and chose their new "American Names" and were THRILLED to do so. They understood that to be an American is something to be proud of, just as they were proud to be Italian or German. But the important thing is that they RESPECTED their new country and home.

And that stems my anger in this situation. First of all, my girlfriend is Dominican. She isn't a citizen yet, but she has her green card (she can leave the country and get back in), pays taxes (more than me), and her mother and brother are both citizens. So as you can see, I have absolutely no problem with immigrants. But I walked past my favorite Mexican restaurant (Los Pollitos II) in Park Slope Brooklyn, and it was closed. I guess they don't want my American money. To which, I don't want their food anymore then. I didn't see a single dry cleaner closed, nor did I see a single Chinese restaurant closed. So I picked up my clothes and gave the Asian lady my money. I met my girlfriend at a pub and gave the Irish bartender my money. I then picked up Chinese food and gave my money to the Chinese people there. Now, from what I know, the people in my dry cleaner are legal. I know that a vast majority of the Irish bartenders in NYC are illegal. And the chance that all of the Chinese cooks in the restaurant there are legal is very slim. So when the people at the Mexican restaurant don't want or think they don't need our patronage, I won't give it to them.

I don't think I'm being too unreasonable, but THEY NEED US MORE THAN WE NEED THEM. And if they don't respect me and my tolerance, and even acceptance or the fact that I actually welcome them here, I WILL NEVER SHOW THEM MY RESPECT OR BUSINESS. So from here on out, I'm not giving my hard earned money (which it actually is) to any of the businesses who I noticed were closed yesterday because they just showed me yesterday that they don't want our business. I urge the rest of you to consider the same.


Mark