Latina Worker
Then I notice through a triple-Americano-awakening moment,
in the mall food court, a young Latina cleaning around by the chrome rail
at Sbarro Pizza. Maybe a Guatemalan, possibly Salvadoran or
Honduran—
could’ve been Argentinean or Colombian, Chilean, Bolivian,
Panamanian—good chance a Peruvian, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan,
Mayan,
Toltec, Sephardic, Huichol coffee plantation or U.S. Fruit Company
or tobacco company or auto industry slave labor robot or CIA-
trained
death squad Guardia Nacional butchery massacre survivor.
Several tables down from mine–roughly stacking chairs on tops
of tables—cussing in Spanish, in the mall food court, she hates
her job,
I hate her job.
“Latina Worker” by Doren Robbins, from My Piece of the Puzzle. © Eastern Washington University Press, 2008. Reprinted with permission.
Small Farmers. Big Change. 
Great poem!
I’ve felt that feeling before.
Doren nailed it!
I have also often noticed how many service workers are latinos (check out the film “A Day Without Mexicans”). However, in my experience they are not usually acting hateful. Given the history of US actions in their countries, this tolerance is even more amazing.
To be more multi-dimensional though, keep in mind that the younger the worker, the less likely that these histories are part of their experience. Now it’s more about opportunity, and lack thereof.