...

 CS> As I left there when I was 11 (1972, just before I turned
 CS> 12) I am not all that

 CS> knowing of more than the things I recall hearing the adults
 CS> mention and what I saw in school.  The kids would be paired
 CS> with an english speaking student (I was one of the ones
 CS> often selected) and take all classes with them while they
 ...

 CS> Job help, yes.  I believe so.  I dont know about adult
 CS> education.

 CS>> What made me very *proud* of my fellow new Americans is
 CS>> that MOST (and i mean that as far as i could tell) got jobs
 CS>> anyway having to give up the house and an almost welfare
 CS>> payment for far less money and get a JOB.

bk>>  After that, did they then work their way up to higher paying
bk>>  jobs?

 CS> Yes, they did.  Almost all learned english too and many
 CS> spoke some when they arrived.  It was not uncommon to walk
 ...

bk>>  Don't forget, the ones who came here were typically among the
bk>>  more educated. The Mariel Boatlift was when Castro shipped out
bk>>  the ones he didn't want.

 CS> Yes and I presume many that I knew then, were the earlier
 CS> loads.  Welfare was considered ok for a short time, but not
 CS> considered good for a long time.  The 'welfare state' of
 CS> later years hadnt developed.  If Dad couldnt get a job as an
 CS> electrical engineer, he got one at a gas station as a
 CS> mechanic then moved up

 That was what I was thinking. Came here a qualified engineer,
 started low then moved back up.

 CS> over time to something more like his training as his
 CS> english progressed.

 CS> Come to think of it, they did have one adult education free
 CS> of charge (or they could pay for it out of their payments,
 CS> not sure which really).  English lessons and almost all the
 CS> adult men took them.  Most of the wives did too.

 CS> The culture of later years where 'we speak spanish so deal
 CS> with it' had not developed.

 Yeah. And it should not be tolerated now. Just my opinion.

bk>>  I used to work with a cuban immigree. He was a pilot in the
bk>>  Cuban National guard. He was not wealthy there, but they did
bk>>  have connections in the Batista govt.

 CS> He'd have known some english then and probably would have
 CS> become a pilot again?

 He became a private pilot, but the US military was not going to
 make him a military pilot.

 CS> What was he doing when you met him?

 He was a production supervisor where I worked. Later moved up to
 a higher position in another plant. Last time I saw him he had
 retired and was back as a consultant. He told me he wouldn't be
 back any more. He told the plant manager the truth and was told
 he would not be welcome any more.

 His daughter and my daughter were roommates in college. Just
 sheer chance. Our running joke was, we couldn't stand each
 other, but we had to be nice to each other cause our daughters
 were friends.

 CS>> Rant off i guess.

 I was wondering, because I have heard a lot of complaints about
 all the assistance cuban imigrants got, but poor americans got
 sink or swim. I didn't know it was true until now.


BOB KLAHN bob.klahn{at}sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

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