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Audio Recording "I'm single and I'm trying to make ends meet; imagine these other people who just come to this country, imagine what they're going through."

"I'm single and I'm trying to make ends meet; imagine these other people who just come to this country, imagine what they're going through."

About this Item

Title

  • "I'm single and I'm trying to make ends meet; imagine these other people who just come to this country, imagine what they're going through."

Names

  • Boyle, Patrick (Narrator)
  • Carroll, Thomas D. (Interviewer)

Created / Published

  • 1994-09-06

Headings

  • -  Interviews
  • -  Emigration and Immigration
  • -  Oral history
  • -  Sound recordings
  • -  Wages
  • -  Clothing industry
  • -  21st Avenue (Paterson, N. J.)
  • -  Garden State Cutting Company (Paterson, N.J.)
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  United States -- New Jersey -- Paterson

Genre

  • Ethnography
  • Interviews

Notes

  • -  Interview with Patrick Boyle, an employee at Garden State Cutting Co.
  • -  Summary of audio segment: TC asks what brings these people here. PB says they can get more money here than in their country. They get minimum wage here, $3.55 an hour PB says, whereas in down there they get 10 cents an hour, in Mexico. They don't get much there. Why do you think they have the free trade agreement, NAFTA. But they still come here for the better hourly wages. People come here to make a better life. TC says just like our grandparents came, to get a job in the mills and improve their lives. PB says exactly, but you have to consider the big difference. When our grandparents came here, they went to Ellis Island, the ones who come now aren't going through anything, they're going through the river [are coming illegally]. That's the only they can get across, because of the border. And that's why they get cheaper labor, too, in this country. A good portion of them are here illegally. PB has nothing against them, they're here to better their lives, and their families' lives. But they're getting a raw deal. A lot of them. But there are so many coming over, they're making it worse for one another. TC asks what he means, is it that they're paid so low. PB says yeah, and they're doing a lot of work. TC says and there's no job security. PB says exactly. Like himself, there's no insurance here,if he wants insurance he has to pay for it. That's how the money works here in the garment industry, they don't pay. There's no pay in it, no income from the customers, so the bosses can't afford to pay benefits. And the average Joe, like PB, can't afford to buy insurance. PB says, I hope you're listening to this Clinton [laughs]. It's ridiculous. PB says he wishes he was at a doctor's right now, he's had a stiff neck all weekend, and his head feels like it's in a vice grip. But PB can't afford to spend thirty five dollars at the doctor. He can't. That goes to his rent and his food. PB is single, not married anymore. And he's trying to make ends meet. Imagine other people who just come to this country, what they're going through.

Medium

  • Digital Audio Tape

Call Number/Physical Location

  • AFC 1995/028: WIP-TDC-A017

Source Collection

  • Working in Paterson Project Collection (AFC 1995/028)

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Digital Id

Online Format

  • audio

Rights & Access

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Credit line

Working in Paterson Project collection, 1993-2002 (AFC 1995/028), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Boyle, Patrick, and Thomas D Carroll. "I'm single and I'm trying to make ends meet; imagine these other people who just come to this country, imagine what they're going through.". -09-06, 1994. Audio. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/afcwip002850/.

APA citation style:

Boyle, P. & Carroll, T. D. (1994) "I'm single and I'm trying to make ends meet; imagine these other people who just come to this country, imagine what they're going through.". -09-06. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/afcwip002850/.

MLA citation style:

Boyle, Patrick, and Thomas D Carroll. "I'm single and I'm trying to make ends meet; imagine these other people who just come to this country, imagine what they're going through.". -09-06, 1994. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/afcwip002850/>.