Mercedies Escalante has had a lot of jobs over the years. She has been a grape picker and packer, an elementary school aide, a barber, a cashier at the 99-cent store, and a postal worker.
Often, she has also served as an unofficial counsellor. As her small, rural town in central California was racked with a spate of gun homicides, she helped neighbours make funeral arrangements, listened to grieving parents vent their anger and despair, and talked down those wondering if they should take justice into their own hands.
This is why so many people in Delano know her. And, she hopes, why they will trust her as she begins her latest job: peacekeeper.
