Re: Laurie Charnley’s July 28 commentary, “Gleaning inspiration from migrant workers”:
As I was reading Laurie Charnley’s commentary about fruit and migrant farm workers, I think my heart began to bleed. But as I stopped wringing my hands and my tears dried up, I came to my senses.
All of us work hard for our families. Farmworkers are not the only ones who wake up before traffic starts or make sacrifices for their children. So I am not going to feel guilty when I order a salad or pour ketchup on my fries, as Ms. Charnley seems to suggest.
We live in a free country; the days of slavery are over. If these workers do not want to work in the fields, they do not have to.
The simple fact is that many, if not most of them are illegal immigrants, arriving here in such great numbers that they are depressing the wages for themselves as well as for legal citizens of this country.
The suggestion that they make only 70 cents an hour is also nonsense. The sneaky manner in which she slipped this item into her commentary is a testament to her skill as an English teacher, but it also makes me worry about what she is teaching our children. According to the California Institute on Rural Studies, the average farmworker in Ventura County makes $8 per hour; hardly enough to grow rich from, but this is more than many legal citizens make. In fact, base pay for a new Army enlistee is only $1,142.70 a month, and these boys and girls are in the Iraq desert right now, with their lives on the line.
So while Ms. Charnley may place on farm workers an almost heroic status, I don’t. When I order my BLT, I am going to take that lettuce and tomato for granted, just like others take their freedom for granted.
— Dalius Stropus, Simi Valley
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