Rodriguez: Workers

Rodriguez: Workers
Name
Course
College
Tutor
April 29, 2013
Rodriguez: Workers
Born and raised in San Francisco Richard Rodriguez is a son of a Mexican immigrant, he is one of the renowned writers distinguished for voicing opinions in relation to the affirmative action. The essay titled “workers” appeared in Hunger Of Memory revealing the first hand lessons that Rodriguez learned concerning the worker as he went on the ground to do the lowly paid menial work. When he gets an hint concerning some construction job, his curiosity is piqued and he is willing to go down and get the experience at the same time earn extra income during his summer holidays. He does not even tell his parents what he is planning to do because they would probably not allow him to involve in such a tasking job.
When he reports for job the first day he has to remove three stumps out of the way, to his shock the work was a lot harder than he had ever anticipated but not as tedious as is college mates had advised him (p.297). He derived a lot of physical pleasure from the job, his body aligned to the routine and he was able to work with pleasure every day. There were a few lessons he had to learn from those acquainted with the menial labor, such as the right way to use a pick and the correct way to shovel (p.297). He was taught how to use his body in an economic way to avoid making his back do so much work.
Through the interactive sessions he shared with the workers he got to understand the essence of the “worker” he was often in the company of carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and painters at lunch (p.298). In their midst he sat quietly enjoying their company, slowly observing how they conducted their activities. There were all type of workers some rough and others good nurtured, he came to realize that there was diversity in the workers class these were not just merely life drop outs most of them were schooled and even graduates, they were very regular people working to meet their needs. The workers constituted of middle class Americas, they were not oppressed people as the normal fallacy would have it, and they were part of the regular society opting to use their physical skills to earn a living rather than live on pay outs.
The presence of the alien Mexicans at the work site brings a new twist to the workers experience, the Mexicans work collectively and quietly, they are also paid collectively and their wage is suspect since the foreman wouldn’t divulge the details to Rodriguez. The Mexicans are oppressed because they don’t have collective voice to state their grievances, this aspects causes Rodriguez working experience to feel absurd. He avows not to become like the lospobres his mother cautioned him about; he is sad for the treatment accorded to the alien Mexicans yet there is nothing much he can do in his position to help them(p.300).
Rodriguez summer experience as a worker was not bad after ...