February 6, 2009

¡ASK A MEXICAN!

By Gustavo Arellano

Dear Mexican: I have a question from one Mexican to another: Why do gabachos think we know everything about plants? During conversations with the estadounidenses , I will get asked about plants, pruning, how to keep roses alive, etc. I understand many of my compatriotas working over here are gardeners (and the best at it!), but that does not give us all a botany degree. Please help me figure it out.

Xochimilco Dreaming

Dear Wab: Within each stereotype lies a kernel of truth, goes the pinche cliché, and your example is a great case. Compared with gabachos, each Mexican—no matter how assimilated or fresa—is a walking greenhouse. Many of our mamis know about the wonders of yerbas (herbs) to tend to a family’s medicinal needs: yerba buena tea for most any ailment, aloe vera to salve a burn, and epazote for a bad case of the pedos. All Mexican families try to grow some type of edible plant on whatever land they can find, whether a simple chile plant or towering corn stalks. This knowledge is passed down from generation to generation if you’re a good Mexican; if you’re not, go find a tia to teach ti. Gabachos might chortle at us since growing one’s own crops for substinence is the hallmark of a developing society, but that’s fine: as the Great Recession spreads, and gabachos suckled for decades on the teat of prepackaged meals and convenience lose their jobs, they’ll increasingly realize that living like Mexicans not only makes life more affordable, it comes with hot second cousins, too!

I realize your column is tongue-in-cheek, but you also perpetuate a myth that I have come to find enabling of a serious problem. That is, the myth that all Hispanics are somehow “hard-workingâ€