Blaming the Others
Press Action
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/mendoza02042004/
By Rachel Mendoza
"If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." -Abraham Maslow
This piece is a dedication to all the Others in world today and yesteryear. Whether one is a witch, communist, liberal, or Scab, I salute you.
George W. Bush plays the game. Priests play it even better. The game is Blame. In the English language, certain words exist as symbols of Blame.
“Us versus the terrorists”
“Good versus evil”
“Fight the power?”
And this is where the game of Blame becomes blurred. The world does not exist in a diatribe of duos. The Earth operates on cycles. Energy must flow. A triangle cannot play the game of Blame; for it has too many sides. The number three, you see, is where the magic happens. In Nature, there is no good or evil. There is just Nature.
As I attended a joint protest this week in front of a Vons store here in San Diego, I realized my annoyance with Unions. Health care! Yawn. Dual-tier wage scale! Ehh.
“Scabs go home!”
This was the chant. I wanted to mention that the Scabs do not control the money. In another universe, I wish I had the gall to bring a megaphone and start ranting at all parties involved. But then it struck me. The Scabs are no different from the terrorists. They are -and shall always be -the Others.
This Vons store had shut off the automatic censors on the doors. Picketers are sneaky in the way they stand just close enough to use technology to their advantage. Of course, this meant that one of the Scabs had to stand inside and open and close the door for the customers.
“How much training did it take to open the door?! Scab!”
I had to ponder how much training it takes to do any job in a grocery store. Who knows, maybe these strikers love their jobs. Although, I must say that I have never found the checkers or baggers particularly friendly at any grocery store.
I have crossed the picket line on a couple occasions. Simply out of curiosity, I wanted to see how the stores were doing. And to my surprise, I found a world of joy. The scabs love their job! Scabs are smiling. Scabs are tossing bread like a football. Scabs are happy to have work.
So as I stand amongst the quasi-angry mob I think how it must feel to be a Scab. But I do not have to think for long, as I feel like an Other. For I do not have a sign. And to the protesters, lacking a sign is lacking a voice.
Welcome to the game of Blame. George W. Bush blames the terrorists. The Democrats blame Bush. The capitalists blame the socialists. And yes, the socialists blame the corporation. And, today, the corporation blames the conglomerate. The Super Store! One-stop shopping; buy a Granny Smith apple and a chainsaw. So what does the corporation do? Well, the Marxists will tell you. And right they are: Blame the workers.
The grocery stores in California think that the Wal-Marts and Costcos of the world are going to cut into their bottom line. Never mind that the three major chains (Ralph’s, Vons, & Albertson’s) boast a combined billions of dollars in annual sales nationwide. Are we supposed to shed a tear for the downtrodden corporation for their pre-emptive union-busting tactics?
As far as the workers go, I do not understand. They are begging for their jobs back that they hated. At least, that was the vibe I picked up. Please, oh please Mr. Corporation take care of me. I just don’t get it. And then yell at the Scabs? The Scab is so desperate for work that an angry mob cannot even deter them.
So what happens when a labor dispute meets homeless people? The homeless people wait patiently for the picket to end when the store locks the doors.
This was the scene after the nearly 1,000 picketers has dispersed from a downtown San Diego Ralph’s grocery store. I witnessed a middle-aged Latino man walk up to a group of people waiting to get into the locked store.
He pumped his sign up and down to incite a reaction of the group. The only reaction he could muster up was from a young homeless man.
“We need to eat!” His voice was hoarse.
Hunger seems to come before worker solidarity on the hierarchy of needs. Duality is gone.
Rachel Mendoza currently resides in Tijuana and is making a documentary film involving workers from around the region. She can be reached at rmendoza209@hotmail.com.