My grandfather came from Italy in 1906 with zero money, worked on the railroad, lived in USA for 40 years, saved his money, bought 2 restaurants, a bakery, a vegetable store, and a 100 room hotel. He couldn`t speak a word of English, but his wife could. He always carried a big pistol tucked into his belt. The cops never bothered him at all. In those days anyone could carry a pistol here, even teenagers until the mafia govt made the Sullivan Law...
That's consistent with my experience with blue collar immigrants. Many have been here for decades but don't speak much beyond pidgin English. The hours are long and hard (60 hour weeks are common), the pay is low and raising families is time-consuming. Bottom line is they run out of time.
Don’t chat much, so I don’t always reply, but I wanted to thank you for adding the family story that is relevant to the thread.
Also, I didn’t know about the Sullivan Act. I am saddened by the gun grabbers’ successes in the Northeast U.S., but I respect the members here who are “behind enemy lines” and just get outvoted in their states.
Your grandfather & mine both must’ve been among that ‘wave’ of Italians. He couldn’t speak more than a few words of English either. The old guys always did their business via wives/kids, not really getting around to learning much, if any, English.
That’s why I’ve also got a little issue with the tone of this thread, despite my rabid anti-amnesty stance on ‘illegals’ (Mexican or otherwise)...(amnesty’s about votes, not immigration). As long as the guy came here legally, I hope he gets justice.