Townie Tidbits

By Sal Giarratani

Who is an Alien?

I was always been a science fiction fan growing up, and I remember those space shows on TV Saturday mornings. Back in those days it was nothing but cowboys, cops or outer space. I can remember being quite interested in the NASA program. Alan Shepard was the first astronaut to fly into space. It was May 5, 1961, the day after my 13th birthday.

This past Sunday, I was back at my old parish over in Wollaston, and the Mass was delivered by a young priest, whose homily started off with Superman, I kid you not. I can I tell you most often after I leave Mass that I remember very little about the sermons, but his I remembered. I even gave him a great movie to watch: “Mission to Mars” and told him he could get another whole Sunday homily out of it.

However, I seem to have gotten distracted him so back to this week’s commentary. Who is an ‘alien,’ is quite the question. Nowadays when talking about aliens, it usually refers to someone from Mexico or Central America. It used to mean green people with three eyes flying in a spaceship, but now the first thing that comes to mind is the U.S.-Mexico border.

There are times when all of us feel like aliens in our own places. We seem at odds with others around us. As I walk down the street, I most likely will talk with people. Most people today, especially the younger folks, have found themselves held hostage to their own devices. Newspapers are dying due to this this situation. If not their devices, they would have to pay the price of the newspaper to find out what fills up the pages inside.

Many folks call illegals aliens as if they are not like the rest of us, which they are. We are all members of the same human family no matter our address, our home country or our language.

I believe a majority of us do not treat those pushing at our borders to get in as semi-human. Many of us just want our immigration laws to respect the law. Forcing your way into America is un-American. I want folks to come here seeking a better life for their families, but the law must be followed.

What happened down in El Paso, Texas, was horrible. A mass shooter travels 650 miles from his home in Allen, Texas, just to kill Latinos. That is so sick and so evil. Hate is a horrible thing because it can turn ordinary human beings into monsters who are much more alien than any real alien from outer space or from Mexico.

We need to keep working on ways to bring us all together as members of the human race. Before I replaced my old car for a new one, I had a homemade bumper sticker on it that read: “Make America One Again.” That is my desire today.

I believe in this country, I believe in our values, our Bill of Rights and our way of life. If you no longer believe in all these things, then you are indeed an alien.

Rather than worrying about who is an alien, we ought to be seeking out those to be our friends and working together on common goals.

 I also wish our president wasn’t so coarse with his words. I don’t expect any president to act as an intellect, but I expect our president to be a healer and a uniter. President Trump has accomplished lots of good in his first two-plus years, but I also expect him to hear and speak for us. When you actually think about it, many of us have forgotten the work of our Founding Fathers, who are the real aliens among us.

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