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Thursday, April 3, 2014

All Mexicans are definitely NOT lazy...

Anyone that has spent any amount of time in Mexico, you know, more than a week at an all inclusive resort, knows this for a fact.  In my third winter in Mexico I have been able to experience not only the beautiful weather, but have been able to observe the Mexican people working at their various jobs.

I have noticed that the weather here, even throughout the winter season, can be extremely hot sometimes.  For example, it is now the beginning of April, and the weather here in central Mexico has been in the high 30's for over a month.  I don't know if you can appreciate it, but working outdoors in weather this hot can be very difficult.  No wonder I like my beers in the afternoons -- and I'm only spending my mornings inside writing.  I am in a cool area of my casa, with a fan going all day and the doors and windows open.  If I had air conditioning, it would be running full time too.

Watching highways workers, street vendors and various other outdoor workers makes me sweat just looking at them.  I can't even imagine how they do it during the summer months.  Try working on the railroad or highway crews in Canada or the USA in temperatures over 38 C, and I think you will move pretty slow yourself.

Because Mexico is still a labor intensive country, not many of the outside workers get to perform their jobs in nice air-conditioned vehicles.  Along any stretch of hot-as-hell highway, you may see as many as a hundred men working and sweating with shovels, picks, brooms and a variety of other implements.  They are moving very slow, and I can see why.  Driving by in our cool vehicles, I do not envy them at all, and really can't appreciate how hot it is out there.

Not only are they almost killing themselves doing these difficult jobs, they are doing it for a measly few pesos a day.  I'm amazed they can even afford to buy a few beers at the end of the day, but if I was them, I'd probably spend my entire days pay on Dos Equis or other similar beverage.  Here's tipping my sombrero to them....

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