Coming to America: Chapters 7 & 8

While both chapters were very interesting to see the push, pull, means, and types of jobs many of these immigrant had. Another thing that i found interesting was the little communities each group made for themselves as a way to become comfortable to their new surrounding in America with familiar languages, traditions and even familiar people.

I was especially interested in the story about the Italian immigrants since I am half Japanese and half Italian. I am very close with my grandparents on my mothers side (Japanese) but was only able to know my grandmother on my fathers side (Italian) since my grandfather passed away when my father was only 20 years old. Since my father's mother passed away a little over 7 years ago, I was still very young and didn't know that they had an amazing immigration story as well. Although I will never know the entire immigration story from either of my grandparents there are a few detail of their story that I have heard from my great-grandmother since she lived until she was 95 years old.

My great-grandfather and great-grandmother were married and both came from Sicily. They moved to New Jersey then eventually moved to Pennsylvania because of the Italian community there and their friends had moved there a few years prior.  Once settled in in PA, my great-grandfather was a tailor and a shoemaker and had his own shop. My great-grandmother helped him run the family business which was in a building in which they lived on top of their shop. The eventually had son, which was my grandfather and raised him there since their business was a success.When my grandfather got old enough he helped in the shop before and after school. My great-grandmother Jenny also told me about a story when she was at the shop alone one day preparing food for dinner in the afternoon and my great-grandfather and grandfather were both out running an errand. Since their business was successful they were very wealthy and was the only shop with and "open" sign in their window. That day a police officer showed up to the shop and told my great-grandmother, "you know, those signs aren't allowed to be posted without paying a fee.. its gonna cost ya!". So my great-grandmother, with her spunky attitude tells the officer to, "Come around the back". As she met the officer she handed him a white envelope. I was eager to hear how much money she gave him but the response I got was, "I only gave him $5... its not like he was gonna tell anyone... I know that officer was tryin' to trick me so I sent him on his way and never heard back from him!"

Remembering this story makes me think of how many other officers around America might have been doing the same thing to "newer" immigrants to find ways to take advantage of them or try to scare them. This seems like it would have been a common practice for "old" immigrants or people in high job positions maybe of British decent.