As a Mexican 1/28/09

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

By Gustavo Arellano

Why do Mexicans think they have to warm up their cars in the morning for almost half an hour before they go to work? Modern cars clearly do not need this, and my white mom says it’s something they used to do back in the ’50s. There’s no solid mechanical reason for it.
Yo Quiero Bailout

Dear Gabacho: You know how it is with Mexicans — we’re always at least 20 years behind the times. That’s why we like oldies music and classic cars, why wabs wear sweatshirts and camisetas emblazoned with antiquated icons and slogans like CHICAGO BEARS SUPER BOWL XX CHAMPS or Bart Simpson masquerading as Michael Jordan, why the motherland got into the democracy game back in 2000 after 75 years of one-party rule, and why some Mexican men still think whistling at 16-year-old girls isn’t creepy. Same with warming up cars.

It’s advisable to warm up any car for a minute or so to get its juices flowing, longer if it’s a jalopy (a word that supposedly has its origins in the Mexican city of Jalapa, the same place that is the etymological birthplace of the jalapeño; supposedly, Jalapa received a lot of cars destined for the scrap heap in the early part of the 20th century, but such stories never seem to include the Mexican side of the cuento). But what do you care that Mexicans calientan sus cars for so long? Let them enjoy the 10 minutes of respite revving their cars; once that’s over, they get to deal with being Mexican again.
PERMALINK:
As a Mexican 1/28/09 | Planet JH News Article: Ask A Mexican

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