A Day Without Immigrants Backfires

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

I have to say, I wasn't inconvenienced at all yesterday. Were you? Frankly, I could have a few more days without illegal immigrants. Here's the story in the Journal about yesterday's events:

Milwaukee, WI- As the entire Latino south side closed for business, many other parts of Milwaukee noticed differences as well. Local fast food franchises showed increased revenue yesterday as English speaking customers were finally able to order to English speaking workers behind the counter.

One McDonald's customer remarked, "I went up to the counter and ordered my usual 'Dos hamburguesas y fritadas grandes' when the person behind the counter looked at me really strange and said, 'Could you repeat that in English please?' I was shocked at first, but then pleasantly surprised. So I ordered a soft serve cone as well, which I'd never done before since I don't know how to say that in Spanish."

Not all businesses fared so well however. As illegal immigrants marched downtown, most of the south side of Milwaukee, centered around S. Cesar Chavez Drive were shut down as both workers and customers were protesting. Because the shutdowns were so localized, many are debating the economic impact of this event.

At least that's how it should have read.

Posted at 8:14 AM by Nick | | |

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Comments:

Dang! I thought you were serious about that one...it's totally plausible, as I actually had to learn how to say "large coffee with milk and sugar" in Spanish at my local Dunkin. (you can say cafe grande con leche y un (dos, tres) azucar, which is longer, but the locals say 'gran' alegre'). I loved the mental exercise, but absolutely hated the principle of the thing.

Posted at May 02, 2006 9:05 AM by