Mood:
don't askTopic: ""I Ain't Got Much" (5)
Frodo had legitimate business reasons for his frequent trips to Puerto Rico. He was not so naive however, as to ignore the resentment that so many natives held toward those like him who were from "the mainland." The absolute ignorance of the issues in Puerto Rico exhibited by mainlanders was, and still is, humiliating, for the all rest of us. For example, it is not uncommon for verbose mainlanders to loudly proffer that Puerto Rico should be given "her independence." Since only about a third of the people of Puerto Rico share that opinion (the options being statehood or the status quo, a commonwealth), it is easy to see why mainlanders are resented for the unfortunate habit of talking without having any information to substantiate their opinion.
No, this posting is not about Sarah Palin, but it could be, admittedly.
Frodo is deeply concerned about the events taking place in Puerto Rico's neighbor this evening. It is possible, though certainly beyond conceivable, that half-a-million people have died within the seismic zone in the nation of Haiti. By now, everyone knows that this is the poorest of the poor in the Americas, and that there are no local resources available to serve, if not save, human life in Haiti. Frodo notices immediately that the pictures of the destruction yield no trees, and no birds. They have been consumed by overpopulation. Whatever comes out of this disaster, in order to live another day, will be from the largesse of peoples from all around the civilized world.
When Frodo was last in Puerto Rico, it was crowded in the streets below, since office buildings were spilling their human content as if they were all sharing the same schedule for a daily purgative. Frodo's friend wanted him to join his circle of friends for an apertif in a nearby watering hole, and suggested that the best way to avoid the crowds was to walk through the secured facilities of the downtown Federal Office Building. Frodo gamely followed the gaggle of natives, practicing his hideous Spanish amid their laughter. Suddenly, Frodo was confronted by a line of 10 or 12 very slender men, all chained together and guarded by very big men with very big guns. Frodo was too startled to think of an appropriate question, so his friend responded to his silence with but a single word. He simply said, "Dominicans."
Just as there are Mexicans and Cubans and Guatemalans all looking to enter into our homeland for many types of opportunity, residents of the Dominican Republic attempt to illegally enter Puerto Rico for exactly the same reasons. There are too many people, and not enough resources to serve them, or save them, in the Dominican Republic. Over drinks, Frodo learned that the attempts usually come by boat from the eastern end of the island of Hispaniola, and that hardly a day goes by that there aren't lives lost in the attempt. Desperation, it seems, is quite a motivator.
Frodo thought about the desperation of the "Dominicans" this evening, when he heard Brian Williams talk about all of the equipment and supplies being delivered to Haitians from their neighbors in the Dominican Republic. The poorest people that Frodo had ever seen were giving to help their neighbors on the western end of the island of Hispaniola.
Bilbo has often told Frodo about the days of the Great Depression, when there was hardly enough to eat on the farm, but that her "daddy" never turned any wayfarer away without sustenance. Perhaps, thinks Frodo, it would be a good idea to look back to Lincoln's words about Christianity, and why God made so many poor people.
