2009, good riddance and take the meanies with you!

by Diana Nelson Jones/Dec 31

If I were naive, I could attribute to 2009 the "low"ness of some responses I got to my story yesteray about the new Las Palmas grocery store and butcher shop in Brookline. Que suerte por Brookline!

But I know the same vitriol against Mexicans will exist into the new year and, in fact, people who rail against "the illegals" don't even distinguish between people who don't have papers and people who do. They even clump all Latin Americans together. Me hace muy enojado.

Some readers read about a new grocery store and immediately get on their soap boxes about "the illegals" because a group of Mexican brothers opened the store.

Immigration and the need for reform of our immigration system is a big-picture issue, while Las Palmas is a small story that has nothing to do with it. It is a bright spot on Brookline Boulevard, and if you're a meat eater in Brookline, you now have a neighborhood butcher. Almost no one in this city can say that anymore.

The Berumen-Cruz brothers bring legal documentation and an entrepreneurial spirit to Pittsburgh. They are living the "bootstraps" mentality. We laud that in America, don't we? We praise the small business risk-taker in America, don't we? Isn't this part of the pride we trot out as exemplary behavior in this country?

People who risk opening a small business do us all a favor, providing services, jobs and taxes. And now people in Brookline have a grocery store to compliment Pitaland's grocery offerings two doors up the boulevard.

It is not a crime to live legally in a country you weren't born in. A lot of people do it. I did it once. I have many friends from many Latin American countries who live here. They are here legally and contribute much more goodwill than the people who are nasty about them do. They enrich us, give us dimension and make us all grow when they share their experiences and friendships with us.

To all of them: Queria desearles lo mejor para el ano nuevo y que nunca encuentren nadie mala.

To everyone else, I wish the same: all the best for the new year and I hope you meet no one who is mean to you.