Ask a Mexican Anything

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Edit: After thinking about it, I started the post as a place for the controversy regarding ethnic and cultural movements in society and their polite discussion but I think if I make another it would be about other things as well, given the jolly reception, with an opening line of a theme perhaps, as we did with this one about immigration. Is there an interest in a particular theme about Mexico and Latino related things? If yes let me know in the comment section and if not, the next post will be about food. A recipe perhaps? Odd dishes of far away local markets?

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Something I've noticed in the past five years is that some people are very touchy and yet curious about immigration matters; the nations involved and their culture and the corresponding implications in the societies of the nations involved, but most people I've tried engaging with are afraid of getting down to real talk to not offend, me or somebody else. I appreciate the gesture for sure given today's broad hysteria and conversations can get tough, but this I intend for such things to be discussed without them becoming personal.

Me? I like that immigration matters are brought to the fore after centuries of imperial immigrant abuse, but I also think that many of my fellow Mexicans and latinos here in the U.S seem to be enjoying too much the attention that SJWs have given them and turned capricious or they have been dumped by their apparent saviors and switched sides. They have good points but they also have blindspots --and some of their supporters magnify those with wishful thinking, that seems either self-sabotage or just ignorance about politics and economics. And even others, who used to favor the wall vehemently, now live in Puerto Vallarta or what not.

The image is the stunning sculpture Promerica by Polish American artist Stanisław Szukalski and it depicts his vision for the Americas: science and mysticism; engineering and magic; european and indigenous, working together. Oh, and when the wind hits it in the right way, the whole monument hums. He wanted it to be in the border between Texas ans Mexico where a university would be founded. He meant it as a mexican priest blessing an american engineer's blueprints but it can go both ways in today's America. It could very well be a Druid, Wiccan high priestess or Sioux medicine man blessing the code of an Ecuadorian software developer.

Ask me anything about being Mexican in the US; growing up in Mexico and it's history; Spanish language and mesoamerican esoterica; culture shock, food, art or religion; the differences between the US and Mexico; what I think about immigration policies, stereotypes. You get the idea, controversial, pleasant or just curious, I'll gladly answer it. You can just drop by and I'll listen too.

Comments

[ari_ormstunga]

Thanks for the reply! I've used a few simple phrases now and then, my hope is that the individuals feel a little more comfortable knowing that their supervisor is at least trying. I'm sure it's hard having a job where no one can talk to you; luckily we had a few bilingual people who were able to get the people trained in the basics or I have no idea how we'd have managed it.

The guy I used to work at the factory came to my area from California, and he was quite well-spoken and articulated his thoughts and ideas well. He was very unpopular with my co-workers, especially when he said at a company meeting that he felt like we could all be working a lot harder and he would be happy to do so. A couple of the guys wanted to stomp him, and another was threatening to report him to immigration. Luckily, I don't think anything came of it, although I left not long after he started (for unrelated reasons).

I did get a fair number of notifications, but no worries :)

[open_space]

woops. hehe

Sounds like you are a good boss and it is very much appreciated : )

That doesn't sound like pleasant, it is what happens with culture clash with different economical backgrounds. The things is that people in Mexico that do a lot of manual labor are really tough workers and usually their families in extreme need so tend to be confrontational. The problem is that it ends up being sacrificial too, of which a more advanced culture clearly notices and disagrees with, understandably. Very different set of circumstances. I don't know if that was his case, but there is a lot of that. The father of the person that helps us with our house back home has his spine damaged and he needs to cut his fingernails with gardening scissors with help as he used to plow fields barefooted with tools he would make, mostly by himself and then his sons. He is old, but that is not decent way to get there.

[ari_ormstunga]

When I was growing up, I heard about "lazy Mexicans" from time to time; my experience in the workplace has revealed the opposite for the most part. I dunno if my region has anything like an "advanced culture", I think that most people at the shop regarded the owners as exploitative bastards and didn't want to work any harder than they already did (understandably, in my view; it was regarded as being one of the two biggest hell-holes to work in my hometown, but a lot of that probably depends on your perspectives, maybe it was nice compared to some of the factories south of the border).

Once upon a time I thought I'd write a novel based on my experiences in the shop, I thought it was an interesting microcosm of rural America. I don't think that a frank novel dealing with race, sex, and class written by a white guy would be publishable in modern times, sadly.

I've done some fairly light gardening with hand tools and it was a lot of work; I can't imagine plowing a field with hand tools or what that would do to a human body.

[open_space]

Advanced wasn't the right choice of words but certainly more developed in a civic sense and in conditions of living. I bet it was still hard for him, but yeah people clock a lot of hours here. It might not be published by the big ones, but it could certainly be self published on demand and read ; )

[ari_ormstunga]

I keep toying with the idea, but my experiences were back in 2005 and reality has gotten so much weirder since then!

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There is some truth to the "lazy mexicans" stereotype, btw, but I think the real problem is alcoholism.

[ari_ormstunga]

I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to laugh at that, but I did anyway :)

[lp9]

Honestly, that picture looks just like my (American) uncles. :)

[open_space]

And that's a great point! I find the stereotype phenomenon very interesting. It's like a meme, in the Dawkins sense.

They exacerbate am area and it requires deliberate work to balance it with reality. Specially, in this interconnected but isolated world.

Mexicans clearly aren't all drunk and lazy and clearly not all Americans are polite and considerate successful businessmen. The inverse is also true, neither life in Mexico is as easy as some make it sound, even with money, nor all American tourists are annoying.