To the angry woman on the deck at Riverside Coffee this afternoon

Dear fellow coffee drinker,

We are unsure if you were just passing through, are a summer resident or even a year 'round resident. You made the young barista quite angry with your comment about how terrible it is that 56572 would fly the Mexican flag in the middle of downtown. Poor you to have to sit on the deck and look at it. Did you notice the Mexican Market next to Historic City Hall? Did you know that twenty percent of 56572's residents speak Spanish at home? Did you know that while you were drinking your coffee, all the Gates Foundation computers in the Library, just a few hundred feet behind you, were occupied by Somalis, Bosnians, Kurds and Mexicans? Did you know that just a few hundred feet behind that, Moslems were on their knees in their mosque praying Friday prayers?

Next time you are at Riverside for coffee, stop over and file a formal complaint about the flag with Jane across the street in Historic City Hall. Please leave your name and address so the Mayor can respond to you. Or ask Jane to call me so I can come and give you a tour of our town. If you are in town on June 23rd right after lunch stop by over behind the Mexican flag. Judge Tunheim will be in town to administer the Oath of Citizenship to a group of new Americans, some of them Mexican. It's a moving ceremony. You can shake their hand and congratulate them.

Things may not be the way you are used to, or the way you like them in 56572, but this too is America.

As always you may vent by using the comments button below. We look forward to hearing from you.