We recently had some work done on our water system. Several jobs that required us to interview half a dozen plumbers all of whom, except for one company, came free of charge to assess the problem and give written estimate for the cost of their work. We ended up hiring a company whose employees all spoke Spanish.

The work was done very well. The plumber kept at working for most of the day. They were quiet and clean. They are so professional, it makes me jealous. How come we can’t find a Chinese plumber who worked so honestly and kept at his job until he finished? How come we couldn’t find a Chinese speaking plumber who charged the same amount or less?

The perception to many Americans that Chinese people somehow charge low price for their product and work to gain unfairly from America is just absurd. America had a competition driven economy. For every job, there is another who will fo the same work for money. And that’s not just programming. Every single product and job in this economy has competition and Chinese humans also must compete.

The end result is that I am a happy consumer. If I have to learn some Spanish (I didn’t have to) for it, I will learn it.

But I do hope that Chinese Americans can gain the respect they deserve–the respect I have for my recent plumbers–after their respective long day of work, that yes, it was the cheapest plumber but they were clean and quiet and professional in every way. They are honorable hardworking competing people in this free market economy worthy of other humans’ respect.