It seems to me that people just naturally segregate themselves into neighborhoods. Little Italy, Chinatown, Little Saigon, Japantown, etc. My grandparents were first generation Americans, but they still clung to their German village ways amd their German friends. I read some time ago that the largest population of Vietnamese, outside of Vietnam, was in Westminster, CA.
But what troubles me is not the natural social gatherings. It's still the White/Black relationships. There's a lot of resentment among *some* of the Black population against the Whites. Slavery is not dead. It remains in the minds of people. And there's still the slave mentality among some Whites.
There's a lot of resentment in California between Anglos and Mexicans-Chicanos-Latinos (whatever group they ally themselves with). We Anglos forget that the M-C-L populations predated us by a couple centuries. Their lands were taken over by the Anglo government.
There's still work to be done.
End of sermon.
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Rosalie and Cathy keep asking to babysit. Telephone call: "Mrs. Long, are you and Mr. Long planning to do anything this weekend?"
"No, why do you ask?"
"Well, we want to babysit. Why don't you go out to dinner, or a movie, or something?"
From the beginning, they wanted to babysit. They like Stevie, think he's just as cute as can be, but it's the baby, Andrew, they want to play with. I remind the girls that they're welcome to come over any time and play with the baby as long as he's awake, and sometimes they do come over after school.
So when the budget isn't too tight, we take advantage of the free babysitting and go out for dinner. Sometimes, we just go visit friends. Believe me, it's a real treat to have some time alone with my husband.
So, on the evenings when we decide to take advantage of the free babysitting, I pump some breast milk and put it in a bottle in case Andrew needs to be fed while we're gone. The girls are very responsible, and we promise to be home in time for their "curfews" so their parents don't get upset. When we get home from our nights out, Stan delivers the girls directly to their homes. Wonderful setup we have.
But there are changes coming. Stan is very happy in his job. He enjoys teaching, and he enjoys the bright kids who are eager to absorb everything they can. They are polite, their parents are cooperative, and the administration is very fair with the teachers. However....
Stan is an only child, born about 10 years after his parents married, and he's becoming concerned about their health. And who will take care of them if one of them gets sick. So we're thinking..........
Well, more about that next time.
Shalom.