"Looking for Work" Gary Soto

Right off the back I knew I would enjoy reading this story. Over this summer I caught an interest in reading stories about Latino adjusting to the American culture. Although I didn't have to deal with an extreme change of culture I still have to deal with the problem of balancing the two. Gary talks a lot about how he wants to imitate a family with an uncomplicated routine and I can totally understand this from two different perspectives.

Being born here in the United States and going to visit my family in Puerto Rico is something that at times can be very difficult. Of course I love being with family but what I don't like is being called the "blanca" or the "white girl." Growing up here I am accustom to the ways of life here, from speaking English, to the music I listen to and the way I dress. So when I go to visit I stick out like a sore thumb! I enjoy every bit of being in Puerto Rico because it makes me proud to be who I am. Unlike here in the United States where many of us Latinos in general are looked down and seen as people who aren't good enough. So I am always ready to show the people here how Latinos really are and not conforming to the American lifestyle.

Another perspective I have of wanting to fit into a certain mold is having my parents being divorced. I remember when my parents first got divorced all I was really upset about was not having a "normal" family. My life as I knew it was shattered into a million different pieces. My mom actually stayed with my father as long as she did because of me. I did not want to have family with a mother and  a father because in my eyes that wasn't a father. I naturally got over this and realized that it was okay and actually better.

I think what's most important is being comfortable in your very own unique mold. I think Gary realizes that at the end. You can't change your family, you kind of just have to love and deal with them. The struggle of us Latinos fitting into a society mainly controlled by whites is always going to be there and will last until we realize that we are different and that different can be good.