What's better: Life in a meatpacking plant or in a 'fulfillment' center? One immigrant wants to know.
A conundrum, a presidential boob-autograph, and more current curiosities in the QC
Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of QC Potpourri, a tour through the area and through parts of my mind. But first, some shout-outs! (And a reminder that you can read last week’s roundup of IL/IA items of interest here..)
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And now without further ado…
QC Potpourri (not the kind that smells) - Vol. 2
1) Which is the lesser of two evils: Tyson or Amazon?
That’s a question I wish I knew the answer to— or at least knew how to answer in a safe sort of way that is:
a) well informed, but
b) also not a lie.
First, a bit of context: as an adult literacy/ESL instructor, I work closely with immigrants and refugees, the majority of whom are employed by a meatpacking plant, aka Tyson Fresh Meats, in nearby Joslin, Illinois. While I work with students from all over the world—Burma /Myanmar, China, Venezuela, Mexico, and elsewhere—the majority of the Tyson employees I teach are from African nations like Benin, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Uganda, and Sudan. Many are fairly new to the Quad Cities, while others have lived in the U.S. for several years and their children attend local schools.
One of the (many) reasons I’m inspired by working with these adults is their incredible work ethic, as well as their buoyant spirit, especially when I try to wrap my mind around what their daily (or should I say nightly) lives must be like. Despite the fact that they work second shift and often don’t get home until 1 a.m., they still manage to come to class five mornings a week and stay for three hours. In many semesters, and with hundreds of students over the years, I’ve never heard a complaint.
But yesterday was the first time one of my students cried. A young woman approached me just as I was trying to dash to the bathroom during our midmorning break. This student, who lived for years in a refugee camp in an African country and has only been in the U.S. for two months, is in her early 20s. Like many others in my class, she wears brightly colored skirts and interesting rotations of braids, sleek wigs, and other intriguing hairstyles. She’s whip-smart and maybe a bit bored in my class, but she’s always respectful. “Teacher,” she said today, “I must miss the class tomorrow. I have interview.”
“Oh wow, you do?” I said excitedly. And then I remembered the flier I’d seen earlier, and my heart sank. Because today is a “Hiring Day” at the new blue and white distribution center near I-80 just north of Davenport.
“Amazon,” she confirmed. “Is it better there?” she asked. “Do you think better than Tyson?”
I should’ve been prepared for this— I knew many of my students would hear of this new opportunity. Then again, what the hell could I have said? I’ve never shed blood, sweat, or tears in any warehouse, Amazon’s or otherwise. But I do read the New York Times. So the absolute last thing I want any of them do to is to leave a current job for one in an environment that could likely be worse.
It troubles me that so many of my students work in a meatpacking plant, even though it’s a job that seems to pay fairly well, or as well as any job they can get as non-native speakers with limited English skills. And in a country where their credentials and skills as lawyers, educators, or everyday people in their native countries aren’t recognized or accepted. Last semester I had a former judge and a philosophy professor in my classroom, both of them now hourly wage employees.
To be clear, the students seem to be able to survive on what Tyson pays. They save enough to send back to their families, and, as I mentioned previously, they do not complain.
Maybe it’s not as bad as I think. After all, it has been years since I’ve paid close attention to reporting on what goes on inside a place like a Tyson plant, (with the exception of, y’know, that whole incident with managers placing literal bets on human lives).
What initially opened my eyes about meatpacking dangers was Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation. Since reading that book many years ago, I’ve taught at least a handful of students who’ve had surgeries on hands, arms, and shoulders due to the repetitive motions they do at work. When I first began teaching, I had an African student who was on disability—who was trying to learn to read and write for the first time in his life, because he needed to find a “light duty” job—after he’d been hit by a forklift.
I tell my students I want them to be safe, that I understand why they work where they do, and that I hope the classes they take with me and future instructors (if they decide to continue on) will help them get jobs in safer and less stressful environments. I tell them often I admire them for how hard they work, and that despite their lack of sleep they still come to school. I tell them that if I were in their country, I’d never be able to do the same—and then I get a big laugh when I say, heck, I wouldn’t even be able to do that kind of a job HERE!
I worry that in either of the choices this student and several others are considering, they will not be safe.
So that’s what I said, or tried to say to this student, with my concerned smile-yet-frown, with my eyebrows knitted.
“I’m sorry… I just don’t know,” I told her. “I know it seems like a good opportunity, because I’m sure working Tyson is really tough.” We’d just been studying the words advise and advice in class, so I added, “But I’m afraid to advise you to try Amazon, because I have heard … things. I’ve heard that it’s…. very difficult.”
At that moment, she welled up. I put my hand on her shoulder. Then she laughed a little bit as she wiped a tear. “Like a baby, I’m crying,” she said.
“I’m so sorry,” I said again. “I honestly don’t know if it’s better. I just don’t know.”
The truth is, I believe that deep down I really do know — and while I want her to stay here and be self-sufficient, I don’t want her to work at either place.
2) Judge finds Henry Dinkins guilty…and chokes back tears as he reads the verdict.
Many in the Quad Cities and beyond have been on edge as we worried whether justice would be served in the bench trial of a Davenport man accused in the kidnapping and murder of a 10-year-old girl — a case that dragged out over the last three years, in part due to COVID delaying the proceedings and in part due to Dinkins and his lawyers continually getting the case pushed back.
As I wrote in a previous post, it seemed painfully obvious from the get-go that he was guilty, but as the state was wrapping up its case, there was little physical evidence connecting him to the crime, (despite seemingly endless amounts of circumstantial evidence). On Sept. 15, Judge Henry Latham read his verdict aloud, his voice halting as he commended the little boy — the victim’s half-brother, only 8 at the time of the murder — who bravely gave testimony that would help ensure Dinkins will spend the rest of his life behind bars. The fact that Dinkins is the little boy’s father is just one of the many levels of unspeakable heartbreak in this case.
3) Scandal continues to unfold after the deadly collapse of The Davenport building… and citizens are taking action.
I’ll let journalist and Substack writer Ed Tibbets fill you in on the latest drama on the city staff and council, but what I want to mention in my quick report is that since the collapse, which occurred over Memorial Day Weekend—when a building that was known to be dilapidated killed three people and led to dismemberment of one tenant and the displacement of many more— a corruption and censorship scandal has been exposed and continued to grow. It has been riveting to follow as a group of everyday citizens has been digging around for information and filing FOIAs, demanding accountability at council meetings, and taking action to get new names on the ballot.
4) The former Buffoon in Chief dropped by a local pub — the choice of which has many Quad Citizens saying “of course.”
You might be aware that on Wednesday, the Lying Sleazebag Who I Still Cannot Believe was POTUS (whose name I refuse to say, because yes he is worse than Voldemort) made a supposedly “surprise” stop in Bettendorf. (If it was a surprise, then the women in those hats walk around dressed like that all the time. Which…maybe they do.)
What you might not know is that the place he visited, The Treehouse Pub & Eatery, just happens to be run by one of the most notorious business owners in the Quad Cities. The Treehouse, or more specifically its owner, has been the topic of major rumor-mill action on social media for years, in regard to his frequent arrests (and light treatment) for DUIs. Lengthy Facebook comment threads have accused him not only of perpetual drunken driving, but allegedly being drunk in front of customers and being abusive to staff.
So, is it just a coinkydink that in a metro area with a number of amazing restaurants, a business owned by a guy with a serious rap sheet (and record of escaping accountability) is the kind of business you-know-who decided to patronize? How about we ask the owner’s daughter, who allegedly told #45 that her dad is his “number one fan.” (Shocker!) She’s apparently the young waitress who can be seen smiling in the photo below while the misogynist and credibly accused rapist appears to sign her chest. (And be sure to read the comment. Well said, Luca. Well said.)
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Great column, Alison. Of course.