What the Guatemalans Left Behind

This is a picture of a chicken that was left behind when a family of Guatemalans fled from a house they were renting in Small Town. The family left in a hurry, being unable to pay rent, and along with their chicken, they left behind a mountain of trash scattered throughout the rooms of the house which the landlord had to clean up--with a bulldozer and a face mask, plus bottles of bleach and a tankard full of disinfectant. Of all the things a family could leave behind--a swing set, a sand box, old curtains, an ugly light fixture--these people choose to leave their chicken, one that had supplied them with eggs.

This afternoon, I was driving down the street when I spotted my friend J standing in a yard across the street from where she teaches drum lessons and looking puzzled. I stopped the car and got out to say "hello," and I found J tossing bits of white bread at this chicken. The thing had been abandoned to the street, and my friend had taken upon herself to find it a home. She had sent one of her students into a restaurant next door for some bread, and the boy was not happy. "Do you know how stupid I looked," he complained. "Walking in there and asking for bread for a chicken?!" The police had been informed and had no idea what to do with the bird. I don't know anyone who keeps chickens, and I assume there are zoning restrictions on keeping chickens inside the town limits.

For several years, Small Town has struggled to be hospitable to the growing population of Mexicans and Guatemalans, most of whom having moved here to work in chicken processing plants. There is a local advocacy group that serves to interpret for them, and there are classes to teach English as a second language. The Catholic church held masses in Spanish, but now the immigrants have established their own churches.

With all of the hoopla about failed immigration bills and an influx of illegal aliens, it is becoming more and more difficult for people to be so accepting. A couple of weeks ago, a Guatemalan man without a drivers' license drove left of center on a two-lane road and killed a man who lives just around the corner from me. The guy is now in the county jail awaiting prosecution for vehicular homicide. As his trial plays out, it will be interesting to see what the public opinion is toward the way the man is treated and how this event will affect the way our community reacts to other immigrants. Now with a wild chicken running loose through the streets, there's likely to be a torch-wielding mob.

No, seriously, I think Small Town has done a remarkable job at helping the immigrants to assimilate. It is never easy to watch your community evolve around you in ways you never expected. Big things like deadly accidents and little things like leftover chickens don't help.