One man's take on his culture's stereotypes

Señorita: A polite lady. Usually coupled with “spicy.”

One man's take on his culture's stereotypes

Thursday, October 15, 2009

An uninsured wetback just hit my car and totaled his. He had no insurance and no license, but did have a nice cell phone. I asked him if he was OK in my limited Spanish, but he did not ask about me or my children. He was handcuffed and taken away to be booked for one hour to get his real ID. This incident will cost me hundreds of dollars even with my insurance. My insurance company tells me 60 percent of accidents in California are with uninsured Mexican drivers. Why don’t they just take buses like I did when I couldn’t afford a car? --Stranded with no Rental Insurance

Dear Gabacho: Yeah, you really care if the man that rammed into you was OK when you smirk at his cell phone and call him a wetback (and real pronto, readers: please eliminate that word from your Rolodex of Racism. Like “beaner,” it’s so 1950s. Use “wab” or the cooler-sounding Spanish translation, mojado). Cry me a pinche río. Also, your insurance agent no sabe what they’re talking sobre the figures you provided. The Insurance Research Council’s Uninsured Motorists, 2008 Edition estimated only 18 percent of Californians drive uninsured; the 1998 study, California’s Uninsured, by the Policy Research Bureau of the California Department of Insurance did determine 35 percent of Latinos had no insurance but didn’t bother to figure out whether they caused the majority of accidents. Finally, with regards to your actual question: Uninsured Mexicans drive cars for the same reason uninsured non-Mexicans do – the buses are too overcrowded with Mexicans.

I live outside of Tucson. A major center of attraction is our Spanish mission built by the Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino. This mission is named Mission San Xavier. It is ALWAYS pronounced: San Ha-Veer, very heavy with the H. So, why do teachers who have students with the name Xavier always pronounce it Zay – Vee – Irr? --Just Asking

Dear Gabacho: The full name of the mission is San Xavier del Bac, named after Society of Jesus (better known as the Jesuits) founder St. Francis Xavier (so named because he was from the town of Javier in the Basque country). As to your pregunta: You’re just hearing the Spanish and English pronunciations.