Summary

In the first section of “When We Arrive,” a truck breaks down on the side of the highway. The truck is hauling many people bound for the beet harvest. The people are standing up, so there is room for more of them in the truck because the cost of transportation is high. Some of them are looking forward to their arrival, while others hate the lifestyle. One woman worries that her husband will have to work in the fields by himself because their two babies are very young. A man hopes he can find a place for them to live that doesn’t have a concrete floor. He says the concrete was very cold. One cites the need for a bed so that his wife, who suffers with kidney problems, will be more comfortable. Another is furious that someone threw a diaper...