One of the things that initially won favor for Rudy Giuliani when he took over the office of Mayor of the City of New York from David Dinkins in 1994 was on all-out war on "petty" street crimes. One of the most egregious of these assaults on personal dignity were the squeegee men who waited at traffic light with bottles of water, rags and squeegees and pounced upon your car, cleaning your windows, or smearing them depending upon the condition of the rags and squeegee, and then demanding payment for the job. At best it was an annoyance, at worst, they would key your paint or break your radio antenna or a windshield wiper if you attempted to refuse. I once spent several ours enjoying a chin-wag with the local constabulary at the Midtown North precinct in Manhattan after punching my fist bloody on on of these miscreants who had wrenched a wiper off my windshield when I told him to step away from my car. Fortunately the concept that I was the victim eventually sank into the nimrod who initially took me in and I got to go home and cope with a couple of hundred dollars in repairs. So today, I stopped off at the over-priced German car dealer to pick up some over-priced parts that were shipped by schooner from the Fatherland. Leaving the dealer at about 2:30, coming down Bonampak, at the endurance contest traffic light in front of Hospiten, I encountered two rather large unkempt young man doing the David Dinkins Memorial Windshield Wash and Extortion Dance. For a moment I grew all nostalgic and fuzzy with memories of home, and then I just got plain pissed off. Generally, depending on the time of day both Bonampak and Tulum are the happy hunting ground for every fricken Transito in Cancun. But with two thugs shaking down innocent drivers directly in front of one of the biggest hospitals in the area, was there a cop of any denomination to be seen? The answer is no. If we were in the states the conventional wisdom would be they were off on a donut break. I guess down here it might have been a taco break, no?
maybe I'm missing something here, but the window washers are ALL over Mexico. QRoo (other than Felipe Carillo Pto) is the only state we've NOT found them. Here's a guy who actually lay across our hood to get the job done Right. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hopalog/401467942/
Correct. You've missed the point, which is that this unattractive, tourist chasing, semi-threatening event has NOT been in Cancun until now. If it is allowed to continue it will be a degradation of the quality of life here. And if your guy lay across your hood, did he also drag his belt-buckle across it as an added service?
I've been fighting off window washer dudes in Cancun for 6 years. I don't see them too often, but they are not uncommon here. I learned how to wave them off a long time ago. I had one who insisted on trying to clean the windshield even though I had clearly told him to get lost. I turned on the wipers and made his job impossible and he finally stopped. Other than that one wanker most of them have been easy enough to fend off.
Either I don't drive as much as you, or you live in a tougher part of town. I've been here 5 years and up until a few days ago, I've never seen this phenomenon. As you can tell from my OP, I have a distinct allergy to this kind of thing. In the Apple, turning on your wipers was an invitation to having them bent backwards by the miscreant assaulting your car.
Meh, it isn't a big deal for me. Unless I've just had my window washed and then I wag my finger and they find another window to wash. I see it as a needed service (some Pemex stations have little kids who will do this but I've never had an attendant actually wash the window) and our windows need the washings when we can get them. Wherever in Mexico I've seen the window washers, it is generally on the periferico or large intersections and they are a very handy and necessary service. Just like the guys selling peeled oranges and fresh tamales and bread. They definitely do NOT cater to tourists or chase tourists at all. Course, my experience with these guys is in mainland MExico and not CUN.
I agree Mix. I have screamed at these guys NO, but only after a polite shake of the head and they persist. Only one did not at least wipe off the soapy liquid. You must not get out a lot. Kabah and Lopez Portillo and larger streets north of LP are hotbeds of dirty windows and folks wanting to clean they for you. You can't get everything at Home Depot my friend. I will take you exploring there if you want. It is hard to tell from this picture, which must be old, there is a huge mall here. http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=21.186367,-86.838073&spn=0.002401,0.004801&t=h&z=18 Get your bearings, turn off the satellite and back off to see where this is. A huge Mega, a 13 screen Cinepolis, a Servi Star twice the size of the one at Gran Plaza, TOKS, medical consults for $25 and that in in the coin of the realm, not dollars, AND MORE. I walk a lot and once trekked there from approximately Home Depot. That was a hike. My buddy Bundy came and rescued me as taxis do go there and so do buses. First time there is was him and I. We ate at a taco stand across the street from the mall. They had boulders along the road to help protect the customers should a driver not be paying attention. I am talking about picnic tables with a blue vinyl roof, great food and soooo many tasty salsas to choose from. The place would disappear late afternoon. The most bizarre thing was that they had menus with a map of the location. Another new experience was that the proprietress had a plastic bucket into which every 5 minutes she would mix water, clorox and liquid detergent, then sort of sprinkle it everywhere. A common description this exercise would be that she was repelling flies. I have been back a few times when craving an adventure. Unfortunately, nearby is without a doubt the most disadvantaged area I have seen in Cancun. It is very sad and unfortunate for these families.
The place I've most commonly seen the washer dudes is on Coba at the Tulum intersection (the seashell roundabout). Also on Coba at the Kabah intersection, on the way to Soriana.
TJ: Besides Home Depot we travel to every corner of Cancun. Earlier this week we were at the Bosch parts depot on Lopez Portillo, Plaza Cancun, Paseo Cancun an aluminum window place above the glorieta on LP, and last week the big IMSS off Nichupte a couple of doctor's offices way up LP and a laptop parts place down the end of Luna. Then there was the trip to TechnoLuz and the fancy door fixture and lock place down the block from them and the glass dealer on Chichen. Also there was the trip down to aduanas in Puerto Juarez for our import permit and lunches at Flamingos. We get around. We don't get approached nor have we ever seen the window guys until the one time in my OP. Maybe the New York plates on my care make them hide.
