My Friendly Neighborhood Estonian Cleaner

DCU's buildings and grounds are maintained by a very capable and excellent staff. In the past, I've bitched about how long it took to get a lightbulb changed, to get the kitchen sink unplugged, etc., but in the end, everything got taken care of. Sometimes it took a week or two, but the job always got done. One can't ignore the fact that this place is exceedlingly clean: from the spot-free floor and mirrored walls in my elevator to the rubbish bins (which never overflow) lining the greens, and if small repairs have to wait to maintain that sparkling standard campus-wide, that's OK with me.

Most of the dirty work is done by Eastern Europeans, who've come to Ireland in search of a better future. One of the DCU cleaners, an Estonian woman whose name I don't know (but Wwe speak often), is just one of these examples. She's in her 50's, and has left her two sons, three grandchildren, and elderly mother behind in Estonia. In her home country, she had no job and no income; so, she came to Ireland, learned English, and found a job. With what she makes at DCU, she is able to pay for her mother to live in a care-center where she receives regular massages. She also sends boxes of gifts home to her children and grandchildren. This is a good story.

Yesterday on the evening news, a report said that bus loads of Polish people arrive in the Dublin city centre every day, desperately hoping for an opportunity similar to the the one described above. These are often people well-qualified to do more professional things, who speak clear English and are able to communicate with others. Some of them are living five or six to a tiny flat, sleeping on blankets spread on the floor, eating nothing but 59cent Tesco Value white bread for days. And what do they hope for? To be lucky enough to get a job as a cleaner-- to be able to send money home to their loved ones, or to develop a decent standard of living in Ireland, and then send for their family.

I think this mirrors immigration in America. People who yarp on and on about "foreigners" coming in to "steal jobs" are uninformed eejits. 'Cause you really wanted that job cutting lawns for $2.65/hr. under the table, right, Honky? You really wanted that job on the midnight shift, cleaning offices for The Man, ain't it so, Cletus? I'm not condoning illegal immigration here, folks, I'm just saying we ought to work harder to understand these people are human beings seeking the same things we natives seek: stable and decent lives in clean and safe areas.

There is a movie out now, MARIA FULL OF GRACE, which I have yet to see-- but I've read quite a few reviews of it, and it seems to address many of these issues. Would definitely be interesting viewing. First person to write an essay comparing and contrasting authorial points in this post with those in the film wins a desk-top statue of Molly Malone, made in Ireland. By Nigerian immigrants.