I know what you mean, Rivergirl, it's hard enough for just me and my wife to get through the experience without causing a scene. But, add kids to the mix, touching everything, breaking something, or dropping something into the basket that you don't notice until you get home with it.... Add whining for candy to the mix and, anything could happen. Yesterday, same shopping trip, a five year old hands her mom something she got off the shelf and all the mom did was say, "That's nice, honey. Put it back, now."
Ditto on all the car related stuff, I'll add the craters (ie: potholes), shoddy repaving jobs, and mini pyramids all over the place (ie: topes). Everyone and their dog has a cell phone here so the incessant honking outside at all hours to get someone’s attention is just blatant rudeness, and would get you shot in Detroit. I can also relate to the personal space and obstruction issues mentioned. Many people here don’t seem to notice or care that they are blocking others. Violating others personal space is also an issue, for example while waiting in line, many times I’ve had the shopping cart behind me pushed right into my back side repeatedly, to the point where I’ve had to turn around and push it back to give them a clue. Other times I’ve felt like the person behind me was trying to pickpocket me as they were standing so close. Perhaps I’m just an uptight American, but I like my 14 inch “personal space bubble” to remain free of unwelcome intrusion. One thing I haven’t seen mentioned is the constant lying. It seems like everyone here will lie right to your face without a second thought, much more so than I ever noticed in the States. The total lack of personal responsibility is also very frustrating. Few people here seems to be able to admit when they are at fault or do what is needed to remedy the situation unless forced to do so. I write it up to a cultural thing, but anyone who lives here for any amount of time learns quickly that you don’t take anyone at their word. It’s sad, but very true. Eventually, it becomes “normal” that people are dishonest and irresponsible, but it still adds stress to most situations. Finally, I’ll agree with the sense of helplessness that RiverGirl alluded to. Mexico has great potential, but the corruption just runs so deeply in this society that any attempt to change things seems a pointless and dangerous exercise. That coupled with the apparent low value human life seems to have for some, ensures that the corruption and violence will continue. Of’ course I feel much of the blame is on the US’s drug appetite and inability to build a proper fence, but that’s a rant for another day.
Life wrote: Growing up in the U.S. southwest, where Latinos/Latino culture dominate the landscape, I also noted the two things Life mentions and, as a young professional man, found them very frustrating. Oddly, living here, while aware of the existence of these cultural differences, they've yet to impact me, everyone having been more or less reliable and honest, over the last ten months. I can't think of an instance of outright lying (aside from a petty ripoff, or two), or irresponsibility, in any situation I've yet encountered, with everybody having done what they promised, so far. I suppose it's helped that, for the most part, I've been dealing with the professional class, or governmental processes with defined parameters of operation It may help, by reducing my exposure to shady situations, that I don't have a car and don't own property, here- two areas of life notable for exposing people to these kinds of frustrations.
Invasion of personal space. Not sure why men feel the need to stand 1cm off my hip when in line at the grocery store (I am a guy not a hot female model). Or the ladies do the same while talking on their cell phones at a high volume or pushing their shopping carts against me ankles. I step ahead, they step ahead. These people are just asking for a spinning back elbow. One day it will likely happen and I will then be posting from outside of Mexico. Agree with all the driving comments. Especially the lack of using turning blinkers. Just imagine how much better driving would be if people actually indicated when they where turning or stopping. Not just cranking the wheel right or left and hoping for the best or the good old hitting the 4-ways and slamming on the breaks no matter where you are in the street. It appears that the city has been painting lines on a lot of the streets lately, not they just need to do a newspaper and tv campaign to teach people what they mean. I guess we can just keep dreaming.
The crazy address thing bothers me. This week I got my neighbor's Cablemas bill, and his address actually says La Casa con la torre y la bandera...the house with the tower and the flag. Which he does have, but I still got his bill. But mostly, it is the sense that Mexicans refuse to make the effort to bring their country forward. They have so little trust in and support from their government that it is really every man for himself, so they just don't care about anything beyond their doorstep or their nose. Noise, horns, dogs, cheats and liars are all selfish people who can complain but not act. If anything gets us to sell and move back stateside, it will be the realization that not only will nothing change here in Mexico, but that the Mexicans don't want it to change, because then they would actually have to work and be responsible for their product. Of course there are exceptions (and those are the people I strive to hire!)
Most of the time I am fairly laid back about stuff here but the driving does cause me to have "Road irritation" . I still struggle with people being unable to say "No" to things when they know they have no intention of doing something- or no capabilities to see them through.(yes yes I know its a cultural thing !!!) Tracey
Kellygirl: Sounds like the Cablemas employee who input this address was not long off the farm! I'm glad to notice that others find this lack of orderliness annoying. Looks like inconsiderate driving- including that of grocery carts- and casual treatment of addresses are in the lead, so far as the "gets my goat" competition goes. Opps, forgot to mention creating unnecessary noise! ____________________ I will second all those who complained about carelessness with trash, and disposal of things, generally. We have a tree-filled park in front of my apt complex. From time to time, city employees come through and mow the grass, remove fallen branches, and clean up, generally. There is one thing they refuse to clean up, however- they will not remove the building material debris that home owners have had deposited in the park following the remodeling of their homes. It appears the owners of the properties did not want to pay the 500 or so pesos someone might have charged to truck the debris away at the time. So, all of us are left with these permanent, unsightly piles, two different ones, which will be there until the next great flood, I suppose.
One thing that bothers me daily are the "Jogging Mafias" that invade and occupy the running track in the HZ... Just this morning I counted to 4 groups of people who seems to own the whole track, and thus spread out W I D E, across the entire track with up to 5 people... People yell "permiso!!" but instead of moving their a*sess, they start to argue with everyone who "dares" to voice their opinion... Nowadays, I always go for the shoulder tackle and the response this morning were words I didnt even knew existed :clappyinghappy: I really hope a buff dude on roller-blades runs into them one day soon.
WHAT GETS MY GOAT.??? Actually over 20 years of travelling to Cancun..I have gotten used to most things which used to upset me before... Numero Uno: "THE MEXICAN MINUTE".... which I have found is anywhere from 3 hours to 2 weeks....or..never!!! "Sir..! We will up to your villa to make that repair in 15 minutes." 3 hours later - still waiting..!! AND..Numero dos:....Having to return merchandise like at Home Depot, a few months ago.. A $3.00 item...and it took three different people to unbox, unwrap, examine....and after 25 minutes....I got my $3.00 refunded.. In the USA....return an item at the Home Depot..and yer cash is back in yer hand in 1-2 minutes..! People (Mexican) take you at your word....!! When you ask a Mexican if they have the time....Instead of telling you what the correct time is....they just say yes...!! LOL
One thing that is frustrating here is that employees in businesses aren't often given the power to actually make customers happy when something goes wrong. Every time we have a problem with our bank they have to contact a supervisor in Mexico City to fix the problem. And I've encountered the same situation with all kinds of other businesses here, the person who has authorization to fix the situation is rarely the person available for me to talk to. It seems that employers don't trust their employees to think or to have decent judgement. And to be frank, they probably don't pay them enough to think. In the end the client suffers and learns to expect b.s. service from businesses here. Good service is so rare here than when I encounter it I have a little flash and wonder if I'm actually in the U.S. I hate to say that, but it's true. Having done management when I owned a retail store I can tell you that I always felt that if my employee couldn't fix a customer complaint, and had to come to me for help, that too much damage had already been done. So I would always feel I had to overcompensate for the customer's suffering. The customer's time is valuable and if he/she has a problem it should be remedied as fast as possible.
