Overheard Starbuck

"They didn't know what to do so they buried them by the roadway."
---"Salt of the earth."
"A similar fate awaited the remains of my great-grandfather when he was working in Colorado for the railroad had he been a clumsy, unlucky young man."
---"Are there many country and western songs celebrating the immigrants' contribution to opening America's West?"
"Back then I don't think the law recognized immigrant laborers as white. They were viewed by the majority of Americans as more white then black and Asian, but not white enough to share access to bars, music publishing and later recording studios and radio appearances. The traditions that define the songs we hear today on the radio are based on these century-old ethnic and financial 'preferences'. One can guess what sorts of special arrangements exist today---outside the music industry as well---for blacks and Asians."
---"No need for businessmen, politicians or bankers to have a single racist bone in their bodies."