This small plastic box,

attached with Velcro

to my windshield

is now another symbol

of white privilege.

The Thruway Authority

has eliminated 58 tollbooths

(and hundreds of jobs)

replaced them with cameras.

Folks without EZ-Passes

will be billed

somehow

and pay 30% more

to drive the Thruway.

Meaning

workers without

checking accounts or

credit cards

are cornered.

Already some are

receiving bills

that they can’t pay.

Who suffers?

Not me.

I have my plastic box.

Alma and Jorge

who come north

from Newburgh—

Alma to clean houses,

Jorge to paint them—

have no bank account,

no VISA card,

no papers.

All they want

is to go to work

and fly under the radar.