How many can you count?

Today is the immigration rally in the city. I refuse to go downtown since I'm not a glutten for traffic punishment. I get enough on ordinary days.

However, just for the heck of it I thought I would count all the Latinos and other immigrants I encounter in my day. For purposes of this experiment, an immigrant is someone with a foreign accent, since I have no other way of telling.

Starting at around 8:00 AM:

I left to do a bunch of errands and went through the Micky D's drive through for a sausage burrito to sustain myself.  [Should I count all the ethnic food I eat today, too?  We'll see]. The Latino manager himself took my money with his heavily accented, "Good morning, how are you?"  Followed by a "God Bless you!"  I don't think he was being effusive just for today, because he's like that all the time. 

On my way to my next stop, I decide to swing by National Pride to change my oil. It's cucharachaville in there. Seven people work there. All Latino. I try to learn a new Spanish word each time I go. Useful things like "oil filter" and "transmission fluid." Given my age and with my short term memory being what it is I can look forward to learning them all over again the next time.

Then I swing around to visit Mr. Moon, my Korean mechanic, to see when he can take my car for a tune-up. Somehow I can eventually figure out what he's telling me.

Now I'm at Kinko's to print out some color pictures and the only accents I hear are from Shecawga.  Customers and co-workers. 

I took a comforter to the laundromat, which is owned by an Asian couple whose country of origin is a mystery to me. They also own the dry cleaning establishment next door, where I dropped off a silk blouse with the counter girl who bowed when she took my order. Anyone that polite you know is not from here.

Since I was there at the strip mall for the other stuff I went into Dunkin Donuts to, uh, smell the coffee and buy some chocolate milk from one of the two Latinas working the counter. The two ladies spoke Spanish to each other in between taking my money. I don't usually go in there after I've already had breakfast, but I wanted to get more immigrants in my count for the day.

Still counting.