September 11 Digital Archive

The brutal reality

Title

The brutal reality

Source

born-digital

Media Type

article

Original Name

María is from Mexico and has lived in the Bronx for six years, her husband Carlos works in construct

Created by Author

yes

Described by Author

no

Date Entered

2002-11-15

VTMBH Article: Edition

42

VTMBH Article: Article Order

3

VTMBH Article: Title

The brutal reality

VTMBH Article: Author

Javier Castaño

VTMBH Article: Publication

Hoy

VTMBH Article: Original Language

Spanish

VTMBH Article: Translator

Hannah Emmerich

VTMBH Article: Section

edits

VTMBH Article: Blurb

María is from Mexico and has lived in the Bronx for six years, her husband Carlos works in construction. Together they bring in just $400 a month more than their monthly expenseswith which they must support their two children.

VTMBH Article: Keywords

VTMBH Article: Body

Last week, I went into a coffee shop in Queens to try the Cuban sandwich advertised as the new menu sensation. It wasnt very good and I let the waitress, María, know.

María is from Mexico and has lived in the Bronx for six years. She speaks very little English, just enough to hold down her job at the restaurant. The money she earns there, $400 a week, goes to help support her husband and two children. Carlos, Marías husband, works in construction and brings home about $300 a week.

María and Carlos share an apartment with another Mexican family; their share of the rent is $800. Other expenses, like utilities, food, childcare and transportation add up to an additional $1,600 a month. This means that Carlos and Marías monthly expenses for the essentials needed to clothe and feed their family add up to $2,400 a month.

Of the $2,800 a month they earn, $400 is left over to buy clothing, rent Mexican movies when they are homesick, and buy toys and other extras for the children.

For this reason, it disgusts me when Mayor Bloomberg talks of budget cuts and tax increases while no one talks of raising the minimum wage or creating new social service organizations.

VTMBH Article: Line Breaks

1

VTMBH Article: Date

2002-11-15

VTMBH Article: Thumb

VTMBH Article: Article File

VTMBH Article: Hit Count

64

Citation

“The brutal reality,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 7, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/1323.