Letter from Marina J. Ettel
Salida – August 2002 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
People tend to jump on the bandwagon without knowing where it is going and who is driving. Is it the togetherness? The company they share? Or is it one more thing that gets away from people and grows into a monster I call prejudice. I am talking about the trashing of Californians…those damned heathens who are buying up all of our land, houses and by golly, values.
I took my daughter and granddaughter on a road trip to show them Colorado. They are from San Diego, both native Californians. We left Denver where I work and live with my husband, who is a third generation native Coloradan. We drove down Highway 285 and hit little towns, ghost towns, and whatever came our way as we visited Native American Indian ruins (we won’t even go down that street, but I am sure the Native Americans would have wished we ALL had stayed out). We stopped in Salida to see what someone had told me was a cute little town full of character.
We were too late to book a river raft ride, so we swam in the mighty Arkansas River with the locals and had a blast. I stopped in a little gift shop on the main street coming out from the river. There were several people in that store besides me and my family. The lady at the counter was loudly discussing “those filthy Californians” who are ruining this state with some “friends?” It seems that “those people” had ruined their state and overpopulated and polluted it and now want to come and ruin Colorado. She was long-winded, ignorant sounding, loud and so was her audience.
I butted into their conversation and set a few things straight. Look back on the history of San Diego and Southern California and see the period after WWII…the massive movement of people into that area…and they bred too…so, what were once small towns grew into huge cities. REALLY research and see WHERE those newcomers came from. Now, just for fun, do more research and see what the migration habits of people in the USA are right now, who is moving from where TO where. Now, look closely at who is funding all these new homes that those nasty Californians are moving into, who is making money off it? Who is being paid to monitor growth in your community and not doing their job?
It is much easier to get angry at “someone” and let that anger fester and spill over into true prejudice. And how many history books do we need to see where ignorance and prejudice lead? People breed, the world grows, is it pretty? No. Is it stoppable? No. Whatcha wanna do? You got plenty of examples of answers in history, choose one.
I was embarrassed for my daughter, I was hurt by the meanness of the people in that store. The practical side of me wanted to continue my lecture to her regarding good business practices and good manners. Why would someone who depends on tourists and “those people” to make a living want to talk out loud in such a derogatory manner as to alienate customers? My goodness, is it possible that even good manners and good business sense were wiped out by those dirty “Californicators”???
It was a cute town, but I can honestly say by far, Durango was the friendliest and most welcoming place we visited. Thank you for letting me vent. I appreciate it.
Marina J. Ettel
Denver
