Sunday, October 21st, 2007...7:35 am
A Great, and Right On, Rant
“From Xico” is the blog of a gringo living in the nearby, enchanting pueblo of Xico and to which I have linked in the sidebar.
The author recently posted “If you are thinking of retiring to Veracruz, Mexico”, a wonderful rant on “ugly Americans” who should stay home. I think it is exactly right.
It brought to mind a recent post to one of the gringo discussion boards wherein the poster bitched about Mexican road design and suggested that Mexican road designers should be sent to universities in California, where designers really know how to build roads. It doesn’t seem to have occurred to the poster that serving the needs of a gringo driving a motor home with a Jeep in tow is probably not a top priority for the local road designers.
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2 Comments
October 21st, 2007 at 6:02 pm
I think you’re a bit off the mark on your comments about the forum post that was critical of the design of a lateral road (along a highway that runs on the Quintana Roo coast). I read the whole thread, and the point was definitely not a complaint about difficulties for gringos driving towed vehicles, but about how the use of frontage roads reduced access to businesses located along the highway (a potentially bad thing for the local community).
I also read the “rant” about who should/shouldn’t move to Mexico — and while, like you, I agreed with much of it, I also thought that it’s a good example of falling into the trap of stereotyping one group, while trying to encourage open-minded behavior towards others (if that makes sense).
Just some thoughts — I’m one of avid readers of your blog (…at least the “about Mexico”)!
October 21st, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Hola mcm,
Thanks for visiting and for your comment.
I understand that we all perceive the comments and actions of others differently. I took the comments about Mexican road designers quite differently than did you.
As for the rant, I don’t think it was stereotyping. I think it covered a wide variety of ugly American types.
Again, thanks for checking in. Take care.
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