Language_El Paso_EL_07202024

This is Emiliano Lopez, today's date is 7/20/2024. And I'm here in [COMMUNITY NAME], for an interview with one of our community members, before we begin, I'd like to get verbal consent for the form that we went over. Could you please say, "I consent to being interviewed and audio recorded for this study?"

I consent to being interviewed and audio recorded 

Thank you. To get started, can you tell me about how you came to live in this community? 

We moved from [EAST COAST CITY NAME] in 1947. 

Could you tell me a bit more about this community? How would you describe it to someone who doesn't live here? 

Very safe, very livable, very affordable. Living a good neighborhood. 

How do you think this community has changed throughout your time living here?

It's improved in uh its streets, improved in its services, uh. It's a very well governed city. 

What would you say are the strength of this community? 

Safety. Safety and also energy we don't have brownouts or blackouts as much as other parts of the state. 

What would you say are some of the weaknesses of this community? 

Very low paying jobs for people that are young and have a need for higher income. It's more of a place for retired people than anything else. 

Could you tell me about the roles and relationships you have in this community? 

My role now, um I'm retired, but I worked the city of about 15 years in uh, in uh city engineering department, retired from there, uh in 1999. 

How do you, how do you think your connections in this community influence your work as a retired um member of the city of [COMMUNITY NAME]?

Well, I've received a very good pension for my heavy work with the city. But I'm not because of my age, I am not able to participate as much as I would like to, uh as I did before. 

Now, I would like to talk more about your work as a member of the city of [COMMUNITY NAME]. Could you tell me about how you got into this role?

I was, I was a union organizer. And I had an opportunity to go to an opportunity to work in the city it came up and I needed to improve my, my uh living conditions because of the benefits that the city provide for me and so I worked for the city engineering department. 

How long have you worked there? How long did you work there for?

I worked for 15 years, I had to retire for medical reasons.

What are the typical workday look like for you?

Uh, very enjoyable work. I had, I was the contract administrator for the city of [COMMUNITY NAME]. It was a very uh dynamic job I worked, uh. We had work all the time. It was very enjoyable. And but it became difficult at times because it was just a lot of work. But that was good.

What does it mean to be um, a member of the city in this community? What did, what did it mean for you? 

Oh good, able to retire and enjoy my life. When the time even though I was medically ill, um I was able to enjoy the benefits of retirement much more than possibly other people. 

What aspects of your job brought you the most joy or satisfaction? 

Seeing projects through um, because my job was to prepare contract documents to get costs for building or remodeling or reconstruction of city properties. And that was a great since I came from a construction family. It was great pleasure to have had the opportunity to have done that. 

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in your work? 

Timelines, the urgency of getting these projects going and getting them completed at times. But they were just stuck obstacles that could be overcome or determined. So it really didn't have any major, major concerns, maybe occasions but overall not. 

Now let's talk more about your experience as a resident of this community. For this first set of questions, I'll read a statement to you and I'd like you to indicate the extent of your agreement with each one. I'll have you give your answer on a scale of one to four or one is completely disagree. Two is somewhat disagree. Three is somewhat agree and four is completely agree. If you'd like to comment on that any of these statements for you please feel free to. The first phrase is I considered myself to be I consider myself to be an American. Would you say that you one completely disagree? Two somewhat disagree, three somewhat agree or four completely agree or agree on a scale of one to four?

I agree.

On a scale of one to four, would you say four?

Four, mhm.

How would you rate the following statement? I consider myself to be a Texan.

Yes, four. 

Which of the following three statements do you agree with most strongly? I am American first and Texas, Texan, Second. I am Texan first and American second. Or being Texan and American are equally important to me. 

I think they're equally important to me. 

The next phrase is to be a true Texan, you must know how to speak English. What would you rate this one using the same scale we started with?

Mm, I would think a 3, I don't, don't, 3, 3.

How about to be a true Texan, you must know how to speak Spanish. One, one is completely disagree. 

1, disagree, you don't have to.

The next phrase is in my community you can do you can do everything you want and can act and get everything you need, even when you don't speak English. 

Um, I'd say a 3. 3. It does impact.

Three?

Si. It does impact us.

Mhm. Finally, in my community, life has been pretty stable over the last 40 years things haven't changed much. What would you say?

[INAUDIBLE] Repeat the question?

In my community, life has been pretty stable over the last 40 years, things haven't changed much. 1 would be completely disagree, 2 would be somewhat disagree, 3 would ble, 3 would be somewhat agree and 4 would be completely agree.

Three.

Three? Somewhat agree?

Mhm.

Now I'd like to hear from you about the community itself. What are some of the things that have changed in this community during the last few decades? 

Um, I think improved health services, um there's more people coming to this city of [COMMUNITY NAME] and becoming citizens of the, of the city. There's safety, there's good safety.  

Overall, is this a good community to live in? 

 Yes.  

What was or is the best part about being a kid or a young person in this community? 

You can live, you can be safe, you can be safe and you have good university to go to university. If you choose to continue to want to.

Do you feel that the traditional way of life in this community is going away? 

Uh, no, no. I don't think it's going away. 

If no, what do, what do you think keeps things the same? 

Perservation of cultures. Perservation  of cultures by people under, respecting others, [MUMBLED CONVERSATION, INAUDIBLE] 

What is your favorite sports team? 

Oh, Dallas Cowboys. [LAUGH]

Mhm. How have they, How have they been doing lately?

Not well, I think they, they are going to have a tough year.

Did you have to do chores when you were younger? Or now?  

Oh yes. That was yes, absolutely. 

What was the worst chore? 

There, I never distinguished bad chores I did it cause it had to be done. There's no category that I can say. 

What was a chore you don't mi--you don't mind so much. 

I don't mind any chore I was raised with a work ethic by my father so everything is doable. I've never had uh, any obstacle in doing anything. 

Did you ever get caught pretending to do a chore but not really doing it?

No, no. [COUGH]

Some people think that it's hard for boys and girls to be friends. What do you think?

Relationships are difficult but to be friends. The, I don't know how to answer up to a certain degree because relationships in order to continue basically will turn into romantic relationships without wanting. They just happen. Friendship you have a lot of friends, but sometimes intimacy just overcomes. 

Did you ever tell a story? Did you ever tell a story about another person thinking the other person was not near you? But then turned around and saw the person was standing right next to you? 

Yes, it's happened. 

Uhuh, Could you tell me about that? What happened? 

Oh, gosh. Remember the facts. It was just making a remark. But it was a, it was a commentary that was not a derogatory, was just a comment which I should have been more cautious. 

A lot of people think of the 1990s as the golden decade of pop music. Do you agree? 

No, no not really. 

If no, what was the best decade in pop music and why? 

The best decade was rock and roll area, rock and rock times with Elvis Presley and the Beatles. And those were the music. Favorite. 

Thank you so much for your answers. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me today. If you have the time. I just have one last request from you before we conclude our interview. One of the overarching research questions through the Home to Texas program is about linguistic changes in Texas. As part of this project, a linguistic researcher is asking that interview participants read a brief passage which should only take a couple of minutes. It's a short made up story about life in Texas that was created in the 1980s. And since, and since then, linguistic researchers have recorded a few 100 Texans reading it. They use these recordings as samples of people standard way of speaking as they tried to track how speed, how speeches in Texas varies and changes over time. Would you be willing to read a brief passage out loud?

Yes, yes.

Great. Thank you so much. Whenever you're ready, could you please read this passage out loud? 

As is?

Yes.

Si, ok.  I lived in Texas all my life. I was born in Titus County. When I was five. [COUGH]. We moved to a farm near White House, which is south east of Tyler. I like growing up in the county--, in the country, country. When my chores were done, I advise my, I ride my horse, climb trees or hike down to the creek to fish or swim. One time we taped tied a rope to a limb of a sighted forestry and would swing out wide over the brimming swimming hole and drop into the water. I'd pretend to be Tarzan swinging on a vine. In the spring I'd fly kites and on summer nights we'd catch fireflies but we call them lightning bugs. Once in a while we have fights with corn cobs or pine cones in the wind to rebuild. We'd build a fire in the fireplace and pop popcorn and roast peanuts and pecans. I go saw was a live wire. When I was 19 I went to work in Dallas at Firestone Tire company. I didn't like city life. And for a long time I go home every chance I got my mom would always cook my favorite foods, fried okra, hoppin John, that's rice and black eyed peas and pecan pie. We had a lot of good times but going home is not the same. And daddy ma died, mama sold the farm and moved to Tyler. I rather be living on a farm right now instead of here in the city, but my wife and kids don't understand me when I gripe about city life and talk about moving into the country. My oldest child says "Daddy that's crazy. I just die if I had to live on a farm." I almost cried the first time she said that I know Texas is changing. But I've tried to make sure we don't lose touch with the roots. We may live in a city. I want my kids to have a good feeling for the land and have a sense of place and pride in being Texans. If they lose their ties to the land, the price the program, progress is too high. 

Thank you for contributing your voice to the collection. And thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences with me. I really appreciate your time and generosity. If you don't have any other questions or comments. I'll go ahead and stop the recording now.

Thank you, no, no questions.