Morning Quotes from Day Laborers

Flashback. It's 6:40 a.m. and my alarm sounds. Anyone who's ever woken up with an alarm knows that's the ickiest part of the day, deciding whether it's worth it to claw off those fleece blankets and dunk your face in freezing water. But this morning was especially difficult. I had resolved to catch a 7:37 bus down the street to volunteer at Portland Voz Worker Center, where day laborers participate in a work raffle, leadership training, English lessons and advocacy. I went last week to help with general office tasks, and despite constant kindness and respect from the men, felt consistently aloof. So on the bus this morning, nerves churned my stomach, as if I were doing something ridiculous like moving to Nicaragua (haha, get it, cuz that's gonna happen). But the second I stepped off the bus I was appeased.
There was Deinor, a 20-something half-Guatemalan homeless man on his bike, hanging on the street outside the center. "Uh-oh," he said. "You're going to ask me if I remember your name. I don't."

Here are some other tidbits of conversation from a great morning.

Rafa, 27-yr-old Guanajuato native: "It's just so poor and violent down there (his hometown)."
Me: "But it's hard up here too, no?"
Rafa: "Yes, here there is discrimination, and very little work, and no family. But the difference is here it is usually hard, and there it is always hard."

Carlos, 30-something from Mexico DF, who wears braces (bracketes): "You had braces too, no?"
Me: "Yes, but how did you know?"
Carlos: "Because no one has a perfect smile like you without braces."

Jose, whose name had just been called for a work ticket: "Gringa! I nida hi-fi!"
Me: "You need a what?"
Jose: "Mano arriba!" (high-five)

There were, of course, aloof moments. There was less to "do" this morning than last week, so a lot of the time I found myself having the option of standing around or starting a conversation with anyone in order to do what I came for (talking and learning).

But that doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm already committed (having pinkie-sworn a few times) to coming next week, and that the morning alarm was totally worth it.

I'll just have to be careful. I'm turning into a total sucker for jornaleros.