Ages ago a rattlesnake got my neighbor's goat...one got their llama too. When I first moved here the addressing system, and all it's misuses, did bother me a lot. Each of our bills lists a different address on it. Our CableMas bill even lists the wrong street. But hey, the bills get here and we pay them. So I'm over that. I also used to be bothered by how my neighbor would always start a party at midnight and go until dawn. But after we twice went over there, in our underwear, and screamed at them in front of their guests, they were so embarrassed that they've since started holding parties at better hours. So I didn't get over that, but it's been addressed...or undressed, or whatever. I also used to be really bothered by all the disco music I hear everywhere here. I still hate it. But now I'm even more bothered by Norteño music, it just drives me up a wall. I would kill to have a neighbor that liked Miles Davis! I agree with all of Steve's grievances except that whenever someone cuts me off by turning left from the right lane I feel a little spark of pride when I don't smash into them. I think I sort of like how driving here keeps me on my toes. Or maybe I've just been lucky so far not to hit one of these idiots. A big thing that bothers me about Mexico are how there's such a sense here of helplessness and a lack of understanding for what it would take to make Mexico a better place. People here don't take good care of the environment, of each other or of animals and they just accept this as normal. There's a lack of vision for what it would take to solve these problems, and hardly anyone seems to care anyway. I don't like being around people who accept bad situations and don't try to fix them, they make me depressed. People here abuse animals and think it's normal. They own dogs for protection but never walk them (they bark all the time because they don't get enough attention or exercise, which amounts to abuse). They own cats and dogs but don't get them neutered, and then think it's cute when they get knocked up. The thing that bothers me the most here is the poor treatment of animals and that fact that very few people here even care about changing it.
I didn't know the expression, but there are so many things (starting with corruption) that.... ok, I gave up. But I need a good advice, and I am sure someone will help me. A new neighbor (right below me) moved in a few weeks ago, I thought he was educated... well.... he puts his music every Saturday night (he started about 1 hour 1/2 ago) at the max, and happily sleeps next to it (I know, I went to knock at his door last week with another neighbor, we went to the front window, we closed the window, he didn't realize until the other guy yelled). The only thing he said is "call the police", very smart guy! He loves salsa, me too... but he doesn't even invite me. And I like salsa when I decide to listen to it (or dance), otherwise it is an invasion. What if I go out on Friday and need to... recover? :wink3: Oh, a detail... he is a lawyer. Of course I can't go down, enjoy the beach, look at the stars... I need peace for that. I thought about turning off the electric meter, but he will turn mine off, it is not a good option. I thought about a drill (that I sold, but I can borrow one), that will not wake him up for sure. Short of ideas. Anyone more inventive? I still have a few Saturdays to bear. I have to work now from 8 am to 11 pm or more, 7 days a week, not sure I can. Thanks for any idea. RG, do you think I can go to the garden in my underwear or less, and dance? NOW the police will come :aktion033:
"Driving: - making a left hand turn in front of you from the right hand lane - cars pulling alongside you when waiting to turn left, blocking your vision and trying to get in your intended lane first - people sounding horns behind you the exact milisecond the traffic light changes to green - people who simply must park right next to the entrance (schools and supermarkets) even if it stops others getting past and causes danger to pedestrians" Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha......!!!! Steve.... OMG........!! And I thought you were talking about BOSTON drivers..all that time..!! Try driving in Boston some time ...for a "fun" experience... Cab drivers slam on their brakes and stop in the middle of traffic to pick up a passenger... Pedestrians and drivers are always at odds with one another...as it is a "challenge" to jay walk....!!! And then, most drivers as well as pedestrians.....are always giving each other the - "1 finger salute".....Boston's friendly way of saying - HELLO
Thanks, Doc for reminding us that things and people are not so different in other places as they are here. The longer we are here, the more we forget that. And something "here" must be better than "there" or certainly we would be smart enough to move. "Wherever you go, there you are." (Yogi Berra?)
Ha! My first thought when I read Steve's traffic gripe was "he never lived in Boston". I'm glad the Eye Doc agrees with that. For myself, down here in the ZH it's pretty quiet, although every once in awhile some drunk tourists will be a bit loud coming back to their hotel and Grill 14 will abuse their outdoor speakers when there's a private party. Two weeks ago they actually set off a really grand fireworks display at 2 AM. Once our heart and blood pressure readings returned to near normal levels, we sat up in bed and actually enjoyed the show. In that same vein, every once in a while one of the pirate ships floats by in full blare. I always wonder about the hearing damage being incurred by the folks floating by since Disco Inferno is playing loud enough to rattle our windows. Burn Baby Burn... what did he say? What absolutely devours my personal goat is the way a group will stop in a doorway, or block an entire aisle in the market and not even notice that you want to pass through, by, over, around or under until you issue a stentorian "permisso!!!" And yes, my ultimate goat killer is Walmart. As unavoidable as it may be, I repeatedly swear that I will never go in there again, only to violate my own oath because it's just so damned easy to get to. I actually had a meltdown in there on Thursday when some fool behind the service counter inserted the public address microphone into his mouth and for 15 continuous minutes barked totally distorted and unintelligible gibberish at 747 takeoff sound levels into every loudspeaker in the store. This while every TV and boom-box was equally blaring, all on different channels. I actually left my wobbly-wheeled, filthy carrito in the middle of the aisle ("Permisso!!") and walked out. And while I'm venting... how come the carritos at Superama (Walmart deluxe), Mega, Costco, Sams and Sorianna are all reasonably clean and in good repair while the average Walmart carrito, when pushed, will immediately describe a circle and cannot be shoved in a straight line without incurring a sore wrist? And I won't even go into the stuff you find decomposing in the bottom of a Walmart carrito.
Still the champ Brilliant, Mixz1! Which one of those have we not all experienced/felt (excepting the ones connected with driving, for those, like me, who don't own a car). This one gave me a flashback to yesterday, in Chedraui, at Plaza de las Americas. Same scene, with a cart, I waited until someone noticed me, after which they grudgingly moved their cart out of the center of the aisle. This little item, and some of the ones Steve and Rivergirl also mentioned seem to require the coupling of concern for others, with insight, if they are to be prevented. A few people don't care, but I think more lack the insight into how to maneuver/stop their cars/carts/bodies in a way that doesn't inconvenience others. [But, I'll admit, I've often witnessed a line of cars stopped along a curb to discharge passengers, and all are prevented from pulling away from the curb by a single, new arrival, who chose to pull in at an angle, for the same purpose, blocking every car in the line waiting to pull out until they had discharged their passengers, and pulled out! Where do you put this one, lack of concern?, lack of insight?, or hybrid?]
I agree with all of the posts, particularly blocking aisles and entrance ways. One that I may have missed is the refusal to use turn signals even when making a right hand turn on a divided road. I don't know how many rear end accidents I have seen because of the refusal to use a turn signal and the other car following too close and going too fast.
One thing I simply don't understand is why so many people here will bring their entire family shopping. Sometimes I even count the family members. Five people is quite common but I've counted 7, 8 and 9 people. It doesn't bother me, unless they block a store aisle or entrance (which they easily do) but I simply don't understand it. It's a little cultural eye-opener for me every time I see it. I pretty much hate shopping (especially at Walmart) and my displeasure increases the more people I have with me. So to go shopping with 5 or 6 or 7 of my family members would surely make me suicidal. I would not survive, no way. Yet plenty of people here do it and look quite happy about it. I find it very weird.
Unlike RG, Walmart makes me homicidal, not suicidal, so when that family of 9 is holding a prayer meeting in front of the stack of Dos Equis I'm trying to reach, the urge to grab for an HK MP5N is overwhelming. Yet, when I see that same entourage, from bebe up to abeulo and abuela, trudging onto the beach with their huge wheeled cooler, umbrella, folding table and chairs, setting up for a day of sun, sand, waves, tortillas and beer (if not something stronger) I get a warm feeling for people who still have reverence for the family. Excuse me for showing my soft side. I'll just go now and find a puppy to kick.:wink3:
