Ojo: The "Cholo Word Of The Day" is simply for fun. This is not an academic exercise, therefore I do not spend much time checking for espelling or grammatical errors. Most of the words are not only used by "cholos," but by many people in S. Texas - and their usage can vary. c/s

Monday, January 24, 2005

Poor South

Maybe it's just me, but it seems the further South I get, the less money people have. Ok, wait, that's nothing new. I've known this all my life. That's the way it is and probably will be for a long time, but lately it's just slapped me in the face. I'm comparing apples to apples, not apples to manzanas. The sad part isn't necessarily that people have less money (i still don't have any money), but the fact that many people are complacent.

The folks I'm comparing are my college friends. My argument is full of holes, but just listen, por favor. I have friends in Dallas, none of them Mexicanos, who have pretty decent jobs, own a business, are in graduate school, or do something else. Even the unemployed fools seem to be doing ok. My one unemployed friend still goes out, buys things, plays on the computer (he's in debt, but he will be able to get out of it).

In El Valle my friends are struggling. I have a married couple friend in debt up to their necks - they both have college degrees and good jobs (not sure if they will be able to get out of debt). I have a lawyer friend who is doing ok. I have some other friends who have good jobs, but can't seem to scrape together enough money for a vacation. Chingado, I don't have a job right now and I've been traveling across the state like a madman.

Is it that down in the Valle - where I am right now, we don't know how to save? Maybe, we don't know how to manage our money? Maybe we value time and family much more than we do money and material possessions, but can't there be a balance?

I dunno. I was talking to my brother - the pelado who's got his law office and he was telling me that he hates to say it, but he thinks the raza in the valley is just getting lazy. He makes this comment, to which I said, "you're crazy" and "that's not a fair statement" because of his experiences working on immigration matters.

He says, in Austin, the Mexicanos show up with their paperwork, their money, a job, and other information needed to move forward on their case. In McAllen he says, nombre, the raza says it's too expensive, they don't want to work, and half the time they don't have any of the paper work needed. Again - we're not comparing Apples to Manzanas. We're comparing Mexicanos to Mexicanos. I dunno - maybe it's our culture down here that breeds complacency. Maybe it's the church. Maybe it's the water or the budlight. Quien Sabe. Maybe it's just me.

I love it down here, but we definitely need changes. Something needs to happen. Ok - I'll probably be in Austin again tomorrow.

3 Comments:

Blogger Diana said...

I'll agree with u that we need some change in the valley, but its not that simple. Look where its located at, its so close to the mexican border...and yeah you have your lazy plp but then you have ur plp who work to provide the best that they can for their family. And well some plp arent as lazy as u may think they are, and well plp here stick close to home cuz they want to be close to the family and material things dont matter to most families here. and well plp who go and work to the like the Austin, Dallas or Houston area work to send money to their family back home or where they live at. So I guess its how u live and the way u look at it.

3:58 PM

 
Blogger HispanicPundit said...

Back when I was a teenager, and going through my 'bad boy' days in Compton, California, I was sent off to Texas for a few months here and there. I even went to school in McAllen/Edinburg/Dona for a bit (before I eventually dropped out of HS altogether).

I think a lot of the complacency has to do with the small town syndrome. There isn't many job opportunities for people in that area, regardless of how high a degree you have. So that tends to breed complacency with those who decide to stay; the others simply leave the area.

I have a friend of mine still down there, one that helped me a lot when I was younger and in difficult times. He is seriously thinking of coming down to California to stay with me. I have repeatedly told him that he will go nowhere if he continues in the 'rat race' he is currently in, unless he does something radical (like get a college degree and move). I think my advice is finally starting to sink in, because he has accepted my offer to bring him down here on his next vacation...to see California for the first time. Hopefully he takes me up on my offer, and allows me to support/tutor him for the four years while he goes to school. It will be my way of paying back what he did for me.

With that said, you have a good blog. I am adding you to my blogroll. I arrived at your site via a mutual friend, Oso.

9:57 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you were to make a pie chart that included all the variables mentioned above, I think there would be a big slice for budlight and another for television.

8:35 AM

 

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