Bright sunny day. Forties. Snow going fast.
Dinner with Francisco at Yamato Ya. A place we've run into each other now and then. Talked til closing, about India and Thailand. About making it through immigration even if you have an American passport, but have a profile look. About the joys of condo living - someone else clears the snow and takes care of the garden. Summer in Mexico working on sorghum and corn. Definitely not organic. Changes with the new ownership at Yamato Ya.
Francisco moved to LA in high school speaking no English and being treated by most teachers as a Mexican unteachable. But one teacher saw something more and helped him get into college. Now he has a PhD from Yale and is a Professor of Spanish.
All it takes is for someone who can see a person's potential...and try to nurture it. I am glad your friend made it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting Nightwing. We all need to remember to be checking our stereotypes all the time. While we don't have time to develop deep relationships with everyone we meet, we should, at the very least, treat everyone with respect. And the ones we are entrusted to serve, well we have extra responsibility there.
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