You came to our country, YOU learn OUR language

Recently, I came across one of those facebook groups that people make. This one is called “You came to our country, you learn our language”.
Of course, one could argue that nobody really knows what country they’re talking about, or what language is being suggested here. However, it is clear that it refers to the United States and to English. For the most part, Americans are so ethnocentric that they assume everyone on facebook should know what they are talking about—and we do. Let’s not pretend like we are oblivious to what they are referring to.
Here is the point I want to make, though. I speak both Spanish and English to the point that when I am in America, nobody realizes I’m a foreigner. I’ve fooled people by pretending I’m from [blank] and they totally buy it. Works every time. I also do understand the frustration of many Americans when they are told they should learn Spanish simply because other people have migrated to their country and they fail to know their host’s official language. Up to this point, I will agree with every claim made by every person that considers immigrants should learn English. What I don’t understand is the xenophobia that is usually contained in almost every American citizen. Is learning Spanish (or any other foreign language) a bad thing? Would you not grow academically and intellectually if you were to tackle another language other than your mother tongue? Do you expect the entire world to speak your language but make no effort at learning another one? It seems to me that it is an arrogance problem. Most people in Europe learn at least two languages, even if they consider theirs to be the superior one. Most people in Latin America know at least a bit of English, and they don’t feel like they are being pushed to do it. Why the vendetta against anything that is perceived as foreign?
Some people make the claim that before America was actually Mexico and before the languages spoken were different, and before whatever...
I realize that what happened before is long gone and we have to focus on what is happening now.

Yes, immigrants should make an effort to learn English. It is only in their best interest to speak the language if they expect to get a good job and better opportunities in America.

—and—

Yes, Americans should make an effort to learn new languages so they can acquire more knowledge and grow intellectually.

Note: It is funny that on the facebook page, the creator makes several spelling and grammar mistakes. Perhaps they are right in not wanting to learn a new language if they can’t tell the difference between “hear” and “here”.

Today I went to Wal-Mart

We were only looking for a couple of things, and even though I try to avoid Wal-Mart we had to go this time. I don't avoid it because it is "crushing little businesses" or any of that hippie nonesense. I avoid it because it is too big, too crowded and the people too incompetent. If you are severely mentally handicapped there are two places where you will get work, no problem. Office depot (in the area where they handle photocopies) and Wal-Mart. Plus, all the employees, or "associates" as they are douchebaggily called, seem to be on sleeping pills while at work.

I was waiting in line to get my money back from some water containers I had returned. I usually buy purified water for my coffee because I like the taste better than that of tap water. Wal-mart sells water in these 20 liter (5.2 gallon) containers which you return after you have used them, and you get your deposit back. The deposit on each container is about four dollars, so as you can tell, it does add up. As I waited in line for what seemed to be years without end, this guy sneeked in front of all of us, and stood in front of the only employee taking care of this service center. I eyed him as if to say, you better not try anything funny—asshole. You see, Mexico is a country that has no sense of fairness. If there is a line, you can rest assured that there will be an idiot trying to get ahead. They have no qualms about it. I've seen it happening, and sometimes, people are so afraid of confrontation that they just let them get away with it. Not I. I have to admit that I was in a very bad mood, and willing to take absolutely no bullshit. When it was my turn, it happened. The moronic wal-mart employee (sorry about the oxymoron), was about to take care of whatever this asshole wanted, when I said in a very loud voice that could probably be heard across the entire store. "I—WAS—HERE—FIRST." No apologies. I knew that the guy had not made a mistake. I knew that the employee had not made a mistake. They were going to attend to the asshole before myself. The guy looked at me with this malice... I find it hard to describe. As if he wanted to kill me. It was almost as if I was the one fucking HIM over! I looked right back at him letting him know he was not going to intimidate me. That is when I lost it. I told him straight to his face.

I'm sorry, maybe you're only used to marketplaces where people have no manners or a sense of fairness. Maybe they didn't teach you at home that when there is a line, people have to wait their turn. Or maybe, you're just an abusive asshole who thinks your business has priority over everyone else's. Don't pretend like you don't know what you're doing. You are exactly the reason why Mexico is such a shithole. You are what makes this country stink and why it will never reach any progress.

The lady at the desk looked at me, almost as if in shock. I tried to keep my cool, even though I was quite upset. I might have been shaking a bit out of rage.

Through the corner of my eye, I saw the asshole leave. Was he upset? Annoyed? Saddened? I don't care. I just care that I got it out of my system. I will not let people trample my rights. And that, is that.

Our Child's First Toy

One thing I have learned about my stay in New York is that the rumors are true: New Yorkers are loud, unclean, and extremely rude. I've been all around the United States and I can say that without a doubt the rudest people are in New York. Whether they are white, black, brown or green, the New Yorker is, in general, a very rude and uncaring species. Having said that, I must say that I had to put my foot in my mouth the other day, as I was proven that once again, you cannot generalize an entire people into a category.

Naomi and I were running out of clean clothes and we had to do laundry. Laundromats are a dime a dozen in New York since nobody can have a washing machine at home (apparently). Another interesting fact is that since I met Naomi I have never seen her do any laundry, so I end up doing it all. I don't mind. I get a weird sense of satisfaction out of cleaning things (Yes, it's my anal side). I was sitting at the laundromat while Naomi was sleeping in the car. I was watching as the clothes were going round and round and waiting patiently for the rinse cycle to finish. Suddenly a man walks through the door. Big man, in his early sixties. He changed some bills into quarters and headed towards the crane machine in the corner. I have to be honest, I have never been able to win at these crane machines, and I don't usually try as I see it as a waste of money. This specific machine took fifty cents per try. I couldn't help but look at the man as he played the game. Time and time again, he won. I was shocked. He played probably around ten times, and won seven. As he left the premises with all his stuffed animals I couldn't help but to share my amazement.
"Wow, you're good" I said.
"Yeah, thanks...." he snickered at me.

He left and I stayed watching as the clothes went into the spin cycle now. A few minutes later he came back. He had more money with him. I went to the machine to see him play and I wished him good luck. Again, he played a few times, winning more than half of the time, sometimes even double prize.

"So, what do you do with all those toys?" I asked him.
—I give them to charity...
—That is very kind of you.
— yeah, well, we give them to this orphanage... you see, my wife, she has a business where she embroiders things, so we go to the orphanage and we tell the kids who wants them and she... she puts the name of the kid on the toy and then we give it to them. Sometimes for Halloween, or Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I nodded with joy as he told me the story.

"I think that is a very kind gesture." I finally added when he was done.

He walked out of the laundromat and I put all the clothes into the dryer. When they were done, I walked out and put everything in the trunk of the car. I noticed that the man had parked next to me. He signaled for me to come over.

"Check this out." He said as he opened the sliding door to his minivan. On the backseat, there were at least 20 toys, sitting placidly as if happy to go for a joyride. "All these are going to charity... except for the dragon. That one is for my grand daughter—Do you have any little ones?"

I smiled candidly and shook my head. "No. Not yet" I turned to Naomi who was still sleeping and said "but we're expecting!".

The man smiled and pointed at the toys. "Pick one. For your little one... Except the dragon." I looked around and there were all sorts of stuffed animals. Some were good quality, some were pretty bad. I chose a little puppie that looked fit for an infant. "This one!" I said with pride as I took the puppie from within the stuffed animal bundle. The man looked at me and smiled. I didn't know what to say.

As the man backed out and left, I noticed he had a Puerto Rico flag hanging from the rear view mirror. I waved as he pulled out and into the avenue. I don't think he saw me.

Organ Donation Clashes with Religion and Stupidity

Aside from Skin cancer awareness, the most important issue to me is organ donation. I can't begin to comprehend why on earth people would refuse to donate their organs and [probably] save lives in the process. According to most studies, (there is an important one published by Reuters coming from Bristol, UK) over 70% of the people that refuse to donate organs are minorities, and the primary reason given for not donating is... you guessed it—religion. Let's face it, some religions are way more stupid than others, and especially the ones that prohibit organ donation should stick it. However, when one of these minorities needs an organ transplant, they have no problem putting themselves on the lists. From my perspective, this is leeching on to the system of rational intelligent people that actually care about other people and don't let stoneage beliefs dictate their actions today. My first idea was that organ donors could opt out from having my organs being donated to a minority simply because of statistics. People might argue that this is a racist position, and I would not be able to defend it. The truth is that even though the numbers point to minorities not donating, this obviously does not apply to everyone—and it would not be fair for a person that belongs to a minority that actually thinks and has his or herself as a donor. So, this is my idea, and I think that it has merit:

Idea 1: Make the system a donation system by default with an opt-out option. What this means is that if you are pronounced dead, your organs are immediately donated UNLESS you have specified that you wish to keep them. Let's face it. Many people have no problem with donating their organs, but are just lazy and never care to register on the program. By using this system, we would have people opting out instead of opting into the program. This way, the number of organs in banks would be much higher.

Idea 2: This idea I call tit-for-tat because it works just like that. I do not think it is fair that many people choose not to donate when everything seems to be going their way, but the minute they are the ones needing an organ transplant, they suddenly change their whole perspective. This is beyond hypocrisy, I know, but there is a way to fix it. With this system, in order to get on a list for organ transplant, you first must have had at least three years on the organ donation list. You can't really be diagnosed and then want to join the club. No. I think that only people that are willing to donate their organs when they die should be able to receive organs from other people that are willing to donate their organs when they die. That is why I call it tit-for-tat. If not being able to get an organ in case you need it, is not stimulating enough for you to sign up, then I dont know what is.

The idea of reciprocal organ donation is not supported by everyone, even if it sounds like the honest thing to do. In many cases it seems to me like religion gets a free pass (again) and is allowed to do anything. Here is a webpage in which someone asked the same question, and again you can tell that religion gets a free pass and it is "ok" to not donate for this reason. If your religion tells you that you cannot donate your organs when you die, then you should stick with it if you get sick. It is not fair to change your mind simply because you need it. There is no way of changing your mind if you die and find out that you religion is not true. To be fair, MOST religions do allow organ donation, and some are a bit undecided. For a complete list visit this link.

Blacklisted religions (religions that do not allow organ donation):

• Amish


• Christian Science


• Jehova's Witnesses


• Judaism (some groups do allow it, some don't)


• Latter day Saints (Mormons)


• Islam (depends on the particular islamic group)


• Pentecostals


• Evangelicals (some do, some don't)


• Shinto


• Quakers (some groups allow it, some don't)

There might be more religions that forbid it, since this is not an all-inclusive list. In any case, if your religion does not support organ donation, it is a safe bet that you are in the wrong religion.

Donate your organs, donate life.

Don't travel next to me!

If you think you are unlucky when you travel, that is because you have not met me. I am one of the unluckiest people on earth when it comes to traveling. As much as I plan and try to look ahead there is always something that goes wrong. In a way, it is almost like I inherited this bad luck from my dad. This is why every time we travel, there is always a Guti-aventura. (If you don't speak Spanish you won't get it). I'd like to share with you my epic return from New York back to Mexico City because it is worth putting on paper. It will make people pity me, it will make others laugh, but most importantly, it will let me vent a little. So here goes.

After having some trouble with some paperwork in the US, I had to come back home without Naomi. This is awful for several reasons. I had to leave my car in a garage in the Bronx. Our stuff is stowed away in a storage unit by Jamaica Bay, and worst of all, Naomi is homeless in New York. About three days ago, I bought I one way ticket to Mexico City, stopping in Houston through Continental Airlines. It departed from La Guardia at 10:45 am. I have been living in a hostal for the past few days, and Naomi has been staying with a friend of hers in the Bronx. It has been uncomfortable to say the least. Because it was our last night together for about a month, and because I wanted to make sure I got to the airport on time, I decided to book ourselves a hotel room in Queens Boulevard. I don't know if you know New York, but suffice it to say that I paid 112 dollars for a room that would have been less than forty anywhere else in the country. The hotel was ok though. It was sufficiently clean and that is good enough at this point. Naomi slept, but I kept waking up. I have a really hard time going to sleep when I have a flight or something important the next day. The anxiety of oversleeping is so much that I can usually just sleep for two, maybe three hours. I woke up at seven, got up and took a shower. I finished packing and put the luggage in the car. We drove to La Guardia. Checked in within ten minutes of arrival and left for the Bronx. I don't like to brag, but I am a very good navigator. Only a couple of months and I know the city like a local. I had to leave my car in a filthy garage in the Bronx that charges--get this--$160 dollars a month! To keep my car! Isn't that amazing? Naomi went her way in the Bronx, and so did I. I took the subway from 149st into 125th in Harlem and then the M60 to La Guardia. (See? I even talk like a no good yank). I got to La Guardia and that is where the pain started. First off, they changed the gate. No biggie, really, but I kinda had to walk a little. Then the plane was delayed. Not too much though. The thing is that Air Force One was landing in La Guardia and Obama travels with two F-15's.

[By the way, Air Force One is any aircraft carrying the president. It can be a Boeing 777 or a Cezna. As long as the president of the US is in it, it is called Air Force One. Now I bet you didn't know that.]

We had to wait on the runway while Mr Obama landed at La Guardia. I think he was back for the whole UN thing, even though it is Saturday and the whole thing doesn't make sense. Well, that is what the captain said anyway. After take off, we had a VERY bumpy ride into Houston. The weather between Washington and Houston was just terrible. Houston was ok. The airport is not bad. It is not great, but it is not bad either. I had chinese food--which is completely irrelevant to the story, but what the heck.

After patiently waiting for almost three hours, the man at the gate asked all the passengers to verify passport before they started boarding. I really don't want to get into it, but let's just say that Homeland Security didn't like my being there and took me apart for questioning. They were suspicious because I had come into the US with a vehicle, and somehow, I was returning home without it.

The flight towards Mexico was ok. The flight was not bad, but the woman sitting next to me had BO. I left the aircraft and went to baggage claim to get my bags. As I was going through customs, the lady had me run the bags through X-rays. Because we have a lot of stuff to bring to Mexico, I had decided to load my luggage with Naomi's clothes. With me, I had 6 or 7 handbags. Oh boy! So here I was trying to explain to the lady that the handbags belong to my fiancee and that they are used. They did a thorough search before they let me go.

So here I am, sitting at home. I can't wait to go to bed. My eyes are shutting and I need to sleep. Next time you are on vacation; stay away from me.

New York's Newest Urban Fashion Trends

Maybe I am completely out of touch with today's urban fashion. Perhaps I am just "too white". But I can't help turning up my nose at the fashion statements that some people do in this agitated New York City. Fortunately for all of us, I have only seen it here, and it is so ridiculous that we might never see it spread anywhere in the country or the world. On the other hand, New York is famous for spreading its ways, whether we like it or not. Example, we all know that the whole "t-shirt" on top of long sleeved shirt became famous thanks to New York and its people. Lucky for me, I never caved to this horrible nightmare. Some close friends, on the other hand, still think it is fashionable. The newest trends, especially within the black people and the hispanics in the outer boroughs of New York, is to:

1 Leaving the information sticker on your baseball hat.

Mostly on New York Yankees baseball hats. This is mostly a latino-slash-black thing, but I've even seen Asians doing it, which makes the nightmare even more profoundly horrifying. Not because I don't like Asians, but because Asians look awful when they try to imitate blacks or hispanics. They probably look even worse than caucasians. So the new thing is to buy a baseball hat, to leave the visor as flat as possible, and to leave to information sticker in plain view. I don't know why this is supposedly cool. Maybe they want people to know that they can afford a new hat? Maybe they want to show what their head size is? It is beyond me. I have even seen some cases where the sticker was obviously peeled off, and then reattached. The poor little thing barely hanging with the second hand glue that is used anyway.

2 Wearing low, very low pants.

Yes, we know you are proud of your boxer shorts. We all know that if you do this, you probably don't have a girlfriend, and the only one that sees your dirty undies is your momma when she does your laundry. But lets face it, this is not only horrible, it is also extremely inconvenient. I've had the misfortune of buying pants that are two big for my waist. It is extremely uncomfortable to walk, and have the feeling that your pants are falling off of you. To some people, this is exactly what they want. Some are a little more conservative, they only allow about 60% of their undies to show. Others, are a little more outgoing and show all their underwear and even some leg. In school, bullies used to pull your pants down to torment you. Now, people do it to themselves. But let alone the fact that you look like a total dork in need of professional mental help, isn't it completely complicated to walk like that. Not only do you walk like a retarded penguin, but if you hit a rock or someone shoves you, there is a high chance that you will end up on the floor, face down, and (really now) looking like an idiot.

These two new trends really bug me. I think people look completely stupid, and I think I have the right to NOT see some guy's undergarments. Am I right? I just hope for the sake of everyone who doesnot live in New York, that these memes don't spread. And they were afraid of swine flu?

We only use 10% of our Brains

We've all heard this ridiculous statement. Sometimes it is 30% sometimes it is 15%--the number varies. The premise, however, is the same. We only use a very small capacity of our brain. This statement has been circulating for a while now. Every time it has something different to offer. Sometimes they say that Einstein only used about 50% of the capacity of his brain, so just imagine how much you use! It seems obvious that this will surprise a lot of people and gasp in awe of the amazing potential of the human brain. --If we only used our brains to their full capacities...

People that repeat this statement are obviously not cognizant of the way the human brain works. But if they were able to question twice what they hear on the internet, they'd be able to figure out that it is incorrect.

The first question that any skeptic should ask his or herself is:

-- How do they know what 100% capacity really is?

In order to say that you only use 30% or 15% or whatever percentage of your brain, you first need to know the full capacity of the brain. If Einstein, who is one of the smartest people we've ever had, is not even close, how do we know what 100% is? What method was used to reach this number, and also, how are you measuring these cognition skills? IQ numbers seem to be the obvious answer, but it is not the case. The fact of the matter is that IQ tests are also capped, and there is a maximum score you can get. Furthermore, plenty of people have scored the highest score possible on tests like the Weschler IQ test. Apparently, even scoring the top score possible on IQ tests would leave you somehow using only a small percentage of it.

-- What kind of intelligence are we referring to?

Through most of the twentieth century, the term "intelligence" referred to two things: numerical abilities, and verbal abilities. Even to this day, people think of intelligence in these terms. Gardner proposed the theory of multiple intelligence. This theory makes absolute sense to me. I am quite gifted when it comes to numbers and verbal skills, but you should see me dancing or trying to play golf. There's people who can compose the most amazing songs, and yet have a really hard time doing a two digit subtraction. If we are going to compare the best mathematicians, linguists and writers, dancers, artists, etc to our own petty skills, we can say that not only we don't use 100%, but not even close to first tenth.

-- Is there a difference between capacity and potential?

The simple answer is yes. There is an amount of data that we can currently hold, and there is a potential amount of data we could hold. When it comes to the abilities of the brain, there are so many things we could be talking about that it is really hard to say what our capacity really is. Each of us has a different mnemonic capacity (ie ability to retain in memory). There are people that have amazing mnemonic skills, and people who can barely remember their own birthday. Most researchers suggest that the potential of your brain, depends on its ability to create new connections between the neurons--and not according to the amount the neurons we have, or the size of the brain itself. If this was the case, we could make the statement that men have more mental capacity, simply because the brain of a male is on average bigger than that of a woman. We cannot really study the potential of the brain, because we don't know exactly what the potential is. People can exercise a certain ability and become good at it, and there are people who seem to have the ability coded into their genes. In any case, the term "we don't even use 10% of the potential our brains have", sounds less irrational than "we don't even use 10% of the capacity our brains have". Have it your way, they're both utterly wrong.

-- Limits to our capacity

Even though the brain is a fascinating organ, and neuroscientists are left in awe every time there is a new discovery--the brain still has limits to what it can do. According to the latest understanding of cognitive psychology, the brain has a set of buffers and filters that help obtain the important information, and to discard the information that is not useful. The brain usually messes up and we end up remembering insignificant details, and forgetting the main point. Research suggests that these filters are implemented so that the brain can process less information, but more important information. As I am sitting typing this, I am not aware of every sound that I can hear. It is information that gets filtered out as I am trying to concentrate.

George Miller published in 1956 "The Magical Number". The magical number refers to SEVEN plus minus TWO. This means that the magic number includes 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. The reason they call it 'magical' is because we seem to find it in a lot of places. For example, when given a long list of words and the subjects are asked to memorize such words and later on asked to recall them, the great majority of people will be able to recall between five and nine items. (This is, of course, without the aid of repetition). Human working memory can hold on average, seven items. There are strategies to make this number bigger, but in essence that is the idea. Why do we have this limit? No one knows for certain, but everything seems to point to having to refresh the working memory buffer in order to make room for new information.

So, do we really use 10% of the capacity of our brain?
No. We use all the capacity of our brains. When it comes to the potential of our brain and how far we can go by training it, the honest answer is that we don't know. We don't know just how much our brains can hold or do. And to be perfectly honest--we might never know.