A Walk In A Tomato Picker's Shoes

The story of the Naples tomato pickers shocked me. Tomatoes are one of my favorite things to eat. I never really thought about the laborers that helped pick them. Who would have thought that someone could put another person through that kind of treatment and actually get away with it. Their hourly wage should be determined by the time they reach work until the time they leave. I really thought that slavery days were over. It is so sad to think that we are living in a country that speaks so highly of "freedom" and yet we can enslave someone else. It also makes me think of a guy I met at Kalama Park in Kihei. He told me a story about how he snuck across the Texas and Mexico border and walked for four days to get to this so-called "free" country. I remember him saying that he hid in some dead shrubery for half a day. He waited until night to drink from a home owner's water hose. The saddest thing he mentioned was that he thought that once he was in America, that he could also be "free". He also said that it was so hard for him to find work because he didn't have a social security number and often feared the immigration. These poorly treated immigrants in Florida must feel as if they have no other choice but to stay. What a way to go on living. No one should have to indure the beatings and the mistreatment. And on top of that, they are charged outrageous amounts of money for their intolerable living arrangements. Reading this made me feel as if I complain about the littlest issues when there are much bigger things to worry about.