Hazelton Fights Back, ... A Workplace Tsunami

First let me say that I am blessed to have visited Hazelton, Pennsylvania, and to have done business there for years, calling upon the State Hospital there, serving the patients there, and even camping with my daughters not far from there in the Pocono Mountains. Suffice it to say that I love Hazelton, and Pottsville, and Centralia, and Scranton and Wilkes Barre.

Each of these beautiful communities depended not long ago upon coal mining and/or clothing textiles. The people that still live in these communities are the bulwarks of American manufacturing families of a while ago. They are the parents and grandparents of America's newest generation, ... who have nowhere to work in Hazelton, nor almost any of the other towns of which I write here.

It is not a matter of where our kids work, ... but who will work in our own hometowns? Who wants to move to Hazelton, or Pottsville, or Centralia, or Scranton to work? Our parents need caretakers, and janitors, and restaurant workers, ... and every other form of service worker. If we outlaw them, are we willing to pay more? Is there anyone else we truly trust to do that work for us?

I have no answer to these questions, and can not answer whether Hazelton, ... this beautiful bright spot at the top of a mountain, can fend off the need for helpers and service workers who can take the place of grandchildren who know their services will draw better pay elsewhere.

One municipality's argument with immigration policy will not solve the dilemma of an older nation disconnected from the services they will require, ... and I include myself among that population.

Tonight I made potato and onion pierogies, pork chops and sauerkraut, ... and wish I could share them with my older friends in Hazelton. I am a believer that the comfort of familiar foods is a part of what life is meant to be as we become older and depend upon others to care for us.

I don't believe they have to look like us, or speak like us, ... but they can learn to do pork, sauerkraut, and pierogies, ... and I promise you they would love to do that. I promise!

I want your home to be "home" but I also know that there are not enough loving children left to care for those Hazeltonians who still live atop the mountain there in Pennsylvania. Your neighbors will not be pale-faced Polish Americans. They will be darker faced Hispanic Americans, that you will come to cherish this land and you fellow citizens just as your neighbors came to love your families long ago.

It is not my place nor my position to worry about the elderly in Hazelton. I hear the Mayor complaining about the influx of immigrants, but he can do nothing about the loss of kids from that wonderful community.

How about you Hazelton Kids? Any ideas about who should care for your folks back home? I just want your folks to stay close to home, ... even in their own homes. Maybe a lady with three kids at home is willing to take care of your parents since you moved away. Maybe she speaks Spanish as her first language. And if you think about it, ... maybe this is just about the best place you would want her to be in America, especially if she loves to be here. She might be just the sort of person you'ld want in your stead, to make a warm dinner dinner for your folks. I think I would!

Check with your Mother and Father, ... Does the mayor speak for them? Or do your mother and father know better after all? I'll hold cooking lessons if you would like!