Viewpoint from the Other Side of the Border

The other day, when I was sitting near Gate 22, Concourse C at O’Hare Airport waiting for a flight back home through Nappanee International Airport, I looked up, and to my surprise I saw an old acquaintance of mine, Juan Valdez, walking toward my gate. “Hey, Juan,” I yelled; “¿Como esta mi amigo? What  are you doing here?”

Juan and I met a few years ago when he came to the U. S. from Mexico on business. He spoke in a forum I ran for my company, Eye2theWorld. I really liked Juan. He said what was on his mind in no uncertain terms.

“Rueff,” he said with a serious look on his face, “I gotta run. I’m on my way home to Mexico. Just been to a meeting with a bunch of Americans here in Chicago. They’re as bad as the ones who are invading my country!”

“Invading?” I replied, “What do you mean?”

“Rueff”, he retorted, “they’re coming down by the millions. Taking over Acapulco and Cancun. Trying to live by their lifestyle and not giving a hoot about blending into our culture. It’s really bad, Rueff. They’re lazy to boot. All they want to do is lie out on the beach during the day and party all night. They’re a drain on our economy.”

“But Juan,” I replied, “think of all the money they’re bringing down. That’s a benefit isn’t it?”

“Sure as heck it isn’t. Think of all the expense of building those hotels and restaurants just so they could have a place to stay and eat. Why, they don’t even want to eat our food. They want what they call ‘real American food’ like pizza. I tell you, Rueff, they’re stupid and lazy and good-for-nothing loafers. Look, I learned English so I could work with people from the USA, but they won’t even learn Spanish, our national language, so they can understand us better. And besides, they don’t want to celebrate Cinco de Mayo; they want Cuatro de Julio!”

“Well, Juan, with all the shouting and concerns about Arizona, I suppose people have a concern.”

“A concern, Rueff? I’ll tell you about a concern. All the noise is turning Arizona into a Din of Inequity, that’s what! Anyway, I’m going back to my little town outside Mexico City and relax from  toda esta locura Americana!”

With those words Juan departed to catch his plane, and I sank down in my seat to think about what we just discussed. “Din of inequity?”


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