Things common in the US that are rare in Mexico, and vice versa (Home Depot, employment)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
One recollection I have comes from a little puebla in Mexico, about 3 or 4 miles off the highway. It had no school, so a dozen or so kids had to walk up to the highway to take a bus to a nearby school. At the end of the school day, I saw the local police officer drive up the gravel road to the highway, all the kids jumped in the back of the police vehicle (a pickup truck), and the cop drove them home. Whatever the official responsibility of the police to the community, this simple gesture of good will fit into his work day. Try to imagine an American cop doing something like that every day.
----------
One general difference, is that most of Mexico has a climate where neither heating nor air conditioning is necessary, so very few houses have either. A few areas need both, like Chihuahua, which is a lot like New Mexico. But even hot areas in southern Mexico, the interiors are quite comfortable in the hottest months, and I can't remember even staying in a hotel that had AC. The only place where AC would be generally useful would be the Pacific coast and the Yucatan. But people I know in Puerto Vallarta don't even have AC. Also, there are very few mosquitoes in most of Mexico (but not all), so even windows don't have to be screened nor glazed, and often just have bars for security.
I forgot that. Virtually every household in the U.S. has heating; even in Florida they do. I even asked in this thread and even in South Florida most people have central heating. And most households in the U.S. have air conditioning - including 80% of poor households. I was in the highlands of Chiapas, and the restaurant we ate at didn't have heating, even though it was about 50 F / 10 C. In addition, neither of the houses I stayed at in Tabasco, despite being firmly middle-class (perhaps even approaching upper middle-class) had water heaters. Even though the weather there is pretty much always hot, the water is still quite cold in the morning. As for air conditioning, in Tabasco it is pretty much necessary year-round, but many (perhaps the majority) do not have any rooms air conditioned, and those who do often have wall units. Even most stores are not air conditioned.
I thought of two other obvious things which are very common in Mexico but rather rare in the U.S.:
1. People riding in pick-up truck beds: seen in Mexico all the time - workers in the back of trucks and officers in the back police pick-ups (another thing unusual in the U.S., though I think Texas has them), etc. In Minnesota (where riding in the back of a pick-up truck is legal), I've seen somebody (other than myself) riding in the bed of a pick-up truck perhaps once.
2. Domestic help (especially live-in) - In the U.S., live-in servants are almost exclusive to the homes of the rich, and even having a part-time "cleaning lady" is limited to wealthy and busy households. In Mexico, despite much smaller homes and a seemingly greater percentage of women who stay at home (according to the family's means), most households that are middle class at least have a "muchacha" to do basic chores and laundry, and many employ a full-time housekeeper and nanny. American homes invest not so much in paid labor as in effort-saving appliances.
Attractive females (not counting girls of Mexican stock in the US)
Skinny people.
I guess you haven't been to Dallas. Esquire Magazine used to pick Dallas as having the most beautiful women in the U.S. or always in the top 5. Most of the larger Texas cities have more singles than married couples so being attractive is important and so is staying in shape. Go out into the countryside though, and you'll see plenty of porkers.
To me the servants was the most glaring difference. In Mexico even not very rich people have to have live in cleaning ladies. It's almost unheard of in most of the USA to have servants.
And the USA is an obese nation but it's been surpassed by Mexico in obesity. Contrary to what's often claimed, people in Mexico are not dying on the streets of starvation.
Another thing more common in Mexico was the soups with meals. And buses -- lots of buses.
One thing that is NOT mentioned re: servants in Mexico.
They get a monthly salary...own sleeping bed/shower/bath room... eat same food that is prepared for the family...sundays off...extra pay if asked to workon a holiday etc. Their expenses are minimal to say the least.
Due to the large population in Mexico City and shortage of jobs/education many girls starting at age 15 start to work as housekeepers ( I like the word better then servants).
There is NO discrimination on their choice to work in the housekeeper field.
With a large household there may or not be a car in the family. Transportation is easy to come by and very cheap. Family members contribute towards the salary of a housekeeper so even middle class households will have one.
I'm getting up in yrs with some medical problems and am considering having a girl/woman cleaning my home 2-3 days a week. ( NO live in for sure) There are many looking for work in this area of Rosarito, Baja.
One thing that is NOT mentioned re: servants in Mexico.
They get a monthly salary...own sleeping bed/shower/bath room... eat same food that is prepared for the family...sundays off...extra pay if asked to workon a holiday etc. Their expenses are minimal to say the least.
Due to the large population in Mexico City and shortage of jobs/education many girls starting at age 15 start to work as housekeepers ( I like the word better then servants).
There is NO discrimination on their choice to work in the housekeeper field.
With a large household there may or not be a car in the family. Transportation is easy to come by and very cheap. Family members contribute towards the salary of a housekeeper so even middle class households will have one.
I'm getting up in yrs with some medical problems and am considering having a girl/woman cleaning my home 2-3 days a week. ( NO live in for sure) There are many looking for work in this area of Rosarito, Baja.
Steve
When I met my ex-roommate from Tabasco in Florida (who I stayed in touch with and visited this year), I asked if he had a "sirviente" in his house and if a normal Mexican middle-class household could afford one. I semi-purposely used the word "sirviente" because I was on a sounding-rich kick at the time. He said he prefers to use the word "muchacha", and that "sirviente" sounded snobbish.
Visiting his family's household and that of a companion, both had household help, although his companion's was only part-time, as her father was aged and only her (much younger...another thing typical in Mexico) mother worked. His was full-time, although she lived with her family a few houses down. As the economic crisis is affecting Mexico, too, many families have seemed to dispense with or lessen their domestic help. His ex-girlfriend used to have domestic help in her household, but she was dismissed because they couldn't afford to pay her any more. Likewise, his cousin also had a muchacha, but she quit because she was sick.
Another difference related to your observation about transportation. At least in the Mexican cities I've been to (all in the south), there seems to be no coordinated public transportation agency. In their place multiple private operators ply their trade, with buses and "combis" or vans. Both households I stayed at had cars, and I was surprised to hear that something like almost half of Yucatecan households have them when reading the newspaper in Merida (the census data had just come out). Nonetheless, the majority of households have no private transportation (other than walking) available, and households are spaced closely enough together so that widespread public transit is practical.
Things common in the US that are rare in Mexico, and vice versa
The most obvious thing, to me at least would be a good University Education, at least a Bachelors Degree.
Thank God for that!!! Less people, all dressed up and nowhere to go but to an Occupation Wall Street meeting, or living with their parents for years to come after they graduate, and spending a decade or more paying off their student loans!
Perhaps Mexicans are a bit more intelligent than that, a degree promising financial security!
One of the more noticeable features in Mexico, which is sorely lacking in the U.S., is the construction methods. I always feel safer staying in an average concrete motel in Mexico, which was built to last for a century or more, than in these wood-stick Motel 6/Super 8's in my country. Can't ever recall staying in a wooden motel anywhere in Mexico or Central America. Don't know if Mexico would even allow a Motel 6 to be built down there more cheaply with wood.
Even the commercial strips, all concrete!
Our powerful lobbying lumber companies in the U.S. wouldn't have it any other way! A smoker in bed sets one of our tacky wooden motels on fire some night, more money into their pockets!
As for the concrete houses, those on the Tijuana side of the border must get a real chuckle out of these brush fires which, occasionally, destroy acres of wooden houses north of the border! Chuckle-chuckle and the lumber companies chuckle right along with them!
Things common in the US that are rare in Mexico, and vice versa
The most obvious thing, to me at least would be a good University Education, at least a Bachelors Degree.
It's hard to imagine that you don't think Mexico has many excellent colleges and universities.
The last time i was told, the tuition for a Mexican at the University of Guadalajara was about $500 USD a year which is a fraction of the cost of a state university in the U.S.
I guess you assume that the illegals coming into the U.S. reflect all of Mexican society. They are the poorest people and like the poorest people in the U.S., they are not indicative of all Mexicans. At least the poorest Mexicans want to work, unlike the poorest of U.S. citizens.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
