Iām really enjoying this Matt....Iām hopeful (given our current state of affairs) that at the end of your year you use this experience to return to public service and act as a vehicle for change as you once set out to do. Looking forward to your next installment of MB: observations on making a better world one person, adventure, and day at a time!
I'm an engineer by training and by nature, Matt. As I read of your experience, I can't help thinking there should be a machine to harvest cilantro. It sounds a lot easier than picking cotton, and Eli Whitney solved that problem 200 years ago. But, of course, automation is not your point. Your point is work, as essential to the human spirit as water and oxygen. "Chop wood, carry water, every day," is what the Zen masters say. Work is an essential component of any life well lived.
I would be curious to know what the pickers get paid, per box and per hour. This is wages that are available to almost anyone. And yet, only a certain class of people do it. Are they stagnant in these jobs? Or do they move up to better paid work once they learn some English? If it were not for undocumented immigrants, would cilantro cost $3.50 a bunch? Adding 50 cents to the cost of a decent taco al pastor?
When you finish picking cilantro, there are ample openings for workers to muck out livestock stalls, empty hospital bedpans, sort eggs by size, and join the police force in certain cities. Or, if you really don't mind getting your hands (and soul) dirty, you could exploit that law degree and run for Congress. As a moderate, of course.
Iām really enjoying this Matt....Iām hopeful (given our current state of affairs) that at the end of your year you use this experience to return to public service and act as a vehicle for change as you once set out to do. Looking forward to your next installment of MB: observations on making a better world one person, adventure, and day at a time!
You're so Amazing!! Just love the lifestyle.. keep it going.....š
I'm @ songbirdsdofly99@hotmail.com
I'm an engineer by training and by nature, Matt. As I read of your experience, I can't help thinking there should be a machine to harvest cilantro. It sounds a lot easier than picking cotton, and Eli Whitney solved that problem 200 years ago. But, of course, automation is not your point. Your point is work, as essential to the human spirit as water and oxygen. "Chop wood, carry water, every day," is what the Zen masters say. Work is an essential component of any life well lived.
I would be curious to know what the pickers get paid, per box and per hour. This is wages that are available to almost anyone. And yet, only a certain class of people do it. Are they stagnant in these jobs? Or do they move up to better paid work once they learn some English? If it were not for undocumented immigrants, would cilantro cost $3.50 a bunch? Adding 50 cents to the cost of a decent taco al pastor?
When you finish picking cilantro, there are ample openings for workers to muck out livestock stalls, empty hospital bedpans, sort eggs by size, and join the police force in certain cities. Or, if you really don't mind getting your hands (and soul) dirty, you could exploit that law degree and run for Congress. As a moderate, of course.