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Ernest Rodriguez' "Impressions," 1960s-1980s

""The Year 1970"" by Ernest Rodriguez Page 9

give to much serious thought about my chances of landing the union organizing job.
	One Saturday night I got a call from Miguel. He said he had arranged a meeting with Alan Lee, myself and some of the local Chicano leaders in Muscatine. He was to meet me and Alan at the CEO officer at 11:00 a.m. the next day which was Sunday. He wanted to brief me on what was expected of me so I would be wired in on the arguments he and the CEO Chicanos from Muscatine would use to pressure Alan into hiring me to work for the union. We met that early Sunday morning in a hotel Cafe.
	The restaurant wasn’t very busy that morning probably because most people sleep late on Sunday. I thought about sacrificing that personal luxury myself as we sat down at the table. The waitress took our order and when she had left, Miguel started explaining about the Louis Rich Plant and all they had planned for the day’s meeting. I listened carefully as he spoke. I felt a little ill at ease and to make matters worse my lower back was causing me a lot of pain. I had always suffered from it because my right hip sometimes slipped out of joint.
	Miguel spoke intensely in Spanish and I could see he was trying hard to read my thoughts and it put us both a little ill at ease. I know at the time I had wished I was anywhere else but there and preferable home in bed. It was one of those situations I found myself in sometimes and wondered how in the hell I got there. I let him do the talking and merely nodded or uh-huhed to let him know I was listening and understood. Our breakfast was served and while I was eating Miguel continued talking in between mouthfuls. I’m sure he didn’t enjoy his breakfast at all and more likely wasn’t really conscious of the

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give to much serious thought about my chances of landing the union organizing job. One Saturday night I got a call from Miguel. He said he had arranged a meeting with Alan Lee, myself and some of the local Chicano leaders in Muscatine. He was to meet me and Alan at the CEO officer at 11:00 a.m. the next day which was Sunday. He wanted to brief me on what was expected of me so I would be wired in on the arguments he and the CEO Chicanos from Muscatine would use to pressure Alan into hiring me to work for the union. We met that early Sunday morning in a hotel Cafe. The restaurant wasn’t very busy that morning probably because most people sleep late on Sunday. I thought about sacrificing that personal luxury myself as we sat down at the table. The waitress took our order and when she had left, Miguel started explaining about the Louis Rich Plant and all they had planned for the day’s meeting. I listened carefully as he spoke. I felt a little ill at ease and to make matters worse my lower back was causing me a lot of pain. I had always suffered from it because my right hip sometimes slipped out of joint. Miguel spoke intensely in Spanish and I could see he was trying hard to read my thoughts and it put us both a little ill at ease. I know at the time I had wished I was anywhere else but there and preferable home in bed. It was one of those situations I found myself in sometimes and wondered how in the hell I got there. I let him do the talking and merely nodded or uh-huhed to let him know I was listening and understood. Our breakfast was served and while I was eating Miguel continued talking in between mouthfuls. I’m sure he didn’t enjoy his breakfast at all and more likely wasn’t really conscious of the