Be More Humble in Latin America

About a month or two ago…

I was walking towards Metro Insurgentes in Mexico City.

I was going to Metro Buenavista to check out the laptops they had in that area near their shopping mall.

Anyway, I wasn’t in a very happy mood that day.

Mostly just a tiny bit hungover to be honest.

Consequently, my patience is a bit on the lower side during those moments.

So I kept on walking towards Metro Insurgentes from my place at the time.

And some random homeless dude pissed me off.

To keep it short, he wanted money but it felt like to me that he picked me out because I was the obvious foreigner out of the group of people walking towards his direction.

He could’ve asked anyone for money.

But, for some reason, he chose to pick me out and beg me for money.

And subsequently wouldn’t take no for an answer and got aggressive

Now, in the incident that happened, the dude was out of line.

He shouted some shit at me as I told him no and that was it.

I forgot what he shouted.

It’s not important.

But he wanted to take it forward after I said no when he asked me for money.

Well, to be fair, he obviously isn’t entitled to any of my money.

All 8.45 USD of it in my bank account.

And, to be fair, it’s not unusual for locals down here in Latin America to see us gringos as walking ATM machines.

If I had to guess….

In hindsight…

The dude probably picked me out because I was the obvious looking gringo in the small crowd walking his way.

So I get that.

Maybe he thought he’d have a better shot of getting 5 bucks instead of 5 pesos from me when compared to begging from any of the Mexicans walking beside me towards his direction.

Nonetheless, the dude had bad luck.

He chose to beg from not a tourist.

As he probably imagined I was.

But instead a gringo with a heavy hangover.

Probably not the ideal gringo to beg from.

Anyway, like I said, he chose to double down on his efforts to beg from El Gringo ATM.

By shouting some shit at me as I crossed the street shaking my head at him.

I tried to politely tell him “no” by shaking my head and carrying myself forward.

But he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Now I forgot what he said…

But it inspired me to turn around after crossing the street…

And yell some shit back at him.

“ya vete la verga maricon.”

Nothing more.

The dude took his head back when he heard me yelling shit back.

Maybe he didn’t expect a gringo to be talking shit back in Spanish.

Anyway, we left it at that.

The incident ends there.

With him anyway.

The Ticket Lady with a Bad Attitude

Though my luck with the locals didn’t end there that day.

I walked into metro insurgentes.

Like I said I was going to.

And the lady behind the window was looking at her phone or whatever.

I dropped 10 pesos her way and said “quiero 2 boletos”

Meaning I want 2 tickets.

She gave me one and immediately started counting the change to give me 5 pesos.

To which I repeated myself and told her “no, quiero 2 boletos” with two fingers up in the air in case she had difficulty understanding the gringo pronunciation of the word “dos.”

She responded in Spanish “well, speak up louder then.”

By then, I was already pissed due to the homeless dude from before.

So I told her “ya callate vieja, dame 2 boletos"

To be fair, most of the time these ticket ladies at the metro seem to be government lardasses.

How they keep their job is beyond me….

But I pissed off towards the train and that was it.

Be Humble

Sometimes I regret it.

When I was with my last girlfriend, she noted how sometimes I could easily lose my temper with a local.

I’m not shy from telling someone to fuck off.

But, as I mature, I look back at that with cringe.

On one hand, I agree that we foreigners shouldn’t tolerate shit from dumbass locals who can’t do their job properly.

Or those who look at us at ATM machines or something to take advantage of.

And, like I said before, there is plenty to life down here that I’m ready to critique.

As I have in other articles I’ve written.

But I’ve also grown more accustomed to the idea of not taking everything too personally.

Not only because it’s not necessary to turn every negative interaction into a battle.

But also because sometimes it’s better to let things go.

Maybe the lady at the window was having a bad day.

Maybe she was texting some shit to someone close to her about something personal.

A lost family member?

I don’t know.

And the homeless guy?

I don’t know.

Clearly he has his own issues also.

But while I will fight a war with anyone I feel is trying to take advantage of me…

I’m also sensitive to not overreacting to someone in possibly unfortunate circumstances.

I get that.

My life hasn’t been perfect either.

And I try to control myself at those times.

Because I don’t want to be the extra thorn in the side for those who don’t need it.

We all have our own hickups.

The homeless guy to the window lady at the metro.

I don’t know what they were going through that day.

Nothing excuses their behavior.

But there comes a need to let things go and forgive.

Something I still try to do better.

So I just say be humble.

When you can be so.

Don’t take everything personal.

The homeless guy or the window lady wants to comment some shit?

It takes the bigger person to let it go.

Not everything is worth fighting.

I guess I’ll leave it at that.

Don’t let nobody fuck with you when living abroad.

But don’t feel the need to turn everything into a battle.

Learn to let go.

Anyway, that’s all I got to say.

Follow my Twitter here.

And thanks for reading.

Best regards,

Matt