Sacramento is one of the most diverse cities in the United States. I see and hear that fact in my everyday life - like today, when I went to the farmer's market on X Street and to a strip mall where stores like Marshall's, Ross, and Old Navy do business.
I actually enjoy seeing and hearing the diversity in the hustle-and-bustle of the farmer's market when I am shopping for fresh vegetables at the stalls that overflow with bounties of green peppers, white, husked corn, and nectarines, and so much more! I never hesitate to ask, a Hmong farmer, for example, how to prepare a certain vegetable with which I am not familiar.
When I was at Marshall's today, waiting in a long line, I could hear people speaking in an accent that was not familiar to me. I looked at the speakers, and like so many times before, I smiled at them and they smiled back.
Sometimes, the accents and faces that hint at different roots than mine, lead me to think about my parents and how they learned English and figured out how things worked in America after coming here from Europe.
Did people scowl at them when they spoke Yiddish or Polish to each other? Was it hard to learn the American monetary system? Did I drive them crazy when I wanted to shop at more expensive stores than the ones they could afford?
I'm learning from the interviews I'm conducting with people, who grew up in the U.S. as children of immigrants, that my family has much in common with theirs no matter how different we may look, or if our parents spoke different languages, or if they came from different ends of the Earth. We're all part of America's Melting Pot and that feels very good to me!
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