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I turnedon in the corner Over a dozen people, mostly old, mostly men, occupied a couple of booths and two tables Aa jacket that read A-1 Auto on the back was talking loud enough for everyone to hear

"Ten years ago you’d only see the Mexicans, the Hispanics, in the su on farms Now"--he shook his head sadly--"fifteen percent, that’s what they say Io they were one percent of the population and now it’s fifteen percent That’s e’re doing the Nicholas County Coalition for Iration Reduction That’s e’re askin’ you to join We can’t just let ’em invade our country like this, take our jobs

"I was talking to a guy over to the rants comin’ in, they’re now thirty-five percent of the work force If that ain’t bad enough, they’re drivin’ doages In 1980, a guy could make 17 an hour as a meat packer--that’s in today’s dollars, adjusted for inflation Now, it’s only 12 an hour

"This can’t go on If we don’t do soet real Americans back to work They need jobs, too"

His audience nodded its collective head

"As native-born Minnesotans," the mechanic continued, "we need to protect e have These people, bringin’ in their culture, bringin’ in their cri proble meth and cocaine and whatnot to our children Where do you think that caht of Tapia, the kid across the street at Fit to Print, orked hard enough to own his own business at age twenty-three Yeah, I could see hoas a threat to the coh nor did it last very long, but there were two kids about Tapia’s age and dressed in the coveralls of an auto mechanic They noticed it and instantly took offense They nudged the ave er

"Hey, you," said theis funny?"

"Don’t h"

"You got a proble"

"We’re fightin’ for the future of our coht with you?"

"Honestly, pal I couldn’t care less It’s not onna sit there smirkin’, thinkin’ we’re a bunch of dumb hicks who don’t know any better We deal in facts here and we don’t like it when people, when outsiders treat us like the KKK or somethin’, sayin’ we’re racist"