Aug. 16, 2002 - 19:52 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Are For

Every day my eyes and ears are assaulted by euphemisms, eeeewwwphemisms!

One that fequently makes me grit my teeth ? 'Undocumented workers'. To get downright nasty about it they are illegally in this country.

There are a few facts about illegal folk. They come here for a better chance at life, and life for their families. For the most part they are good people coming from a poverty stricken land. But they need food, housing, clothing, schooling and medical attention. There has also from early on been a demand for foreign workers, alien or not because traditionally they work for less. They do menial, back breaking, sweaty work, work other folk won't do unless driven to it by starvation.

Okay, they want a better life, they should have a better life. But not as peons slaving under the threat of being turned in to INS. The threat ? Comes from the employer.

Illegals in this country are sitting ducks for all kinds of scams. But they keep working, often living in migrant camps or the worst slums in town, but they keep working. Hoping for another amnesty program.

It seemed simpler to me the way it was when I was a kid. At least we kept control of the flow of foreign folk into the US. Our quotas maybe were not as smart as they could have been, but we took in people from Europe, Russia and the Orient.

But when I was a kid here in Colorado the area north of Denver grew a population of illegal folk, because the beet farmers and sugar factories could pay less and by paying off a few officials I suppose they were able to keep them here.

Why am I kvetching ? Okay, lets see, Heather and I feel we are a kind and hospitable pair, yet when more people come to live in our house than we can accomodate we are in a similar situation as the US. Not only is it housing but medical attention, hospitalization, education and of course police protection that has to be rendered to and for people in this country -- whether legally here or not. Social services can get involved too.

So what happens? Bigfoot politicians, greedy employers and wild eyed do-gooders call them undocumented workers.

Its not just the "undocumented worker" euphemism that the media, politicians, yadda yadda, over work. I've mentioned before, I am not handicapped, by golly I am crippled, the way I look at it any other term for my condition is a euphemism. Words of convenience which camouflage the true facts of life. Shorty isn't a runt - he is vertically challenged. Joe isn't fat, obese smoke screens it a bit, but weight challenged, hoo boy now that is a hummer.

Euphemisms just help keep troubles hidden. Call it something other than rape, bring in the psychiatrists and experts and another name will emerge to soften the picture. If there isn't one somebody will dream one up. It will help foster the philosophy that mistakenly is afoot, that understanding why someone is that way and does those things, automatically helps cover things over, a plea bargain blessed by overworked law enforcement folk and the criminal is off to another running start after a short stay in jail. Oh, pardon me, what a boo-boo I committed what is the name of the huge array of buildings with barred windows surrounded with fences topped with razor wire now ? Is it institutions for the re-habilitation of misguided people ? Or some other crackpot disguising euphemism comes forth.

Doesn't really matter what a hot stove is euphemistically named, put your hand on it and it gets blistered. The same I think should be used to deflate the puffery of euphemistic thinking.

Some bad thing exists until someone comes up with a fancy name to paint the kettle white, after all thats what euphemisms Are For . . . . . . .

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