Posted by:
catnip
(
)
Date: July 01, 2017 03:04AM
We would drive down there fairly often, sometimes to show it to guests, sometimes just to have fun. I always enjoyed it, even more so when I learned Spanish.
I remember once I took my son down there, when he was only 7 or 8. We were looking at various things in a little shop. There was a loud, boisterous, classical "Ugly American" man in the store too, and he demanded of the rather regal-looking lady behind the counter, "Hey, ya'll got a bathroom in here?" She said that their restroom was not for public use.
My little son whispered to me that he needed to use the restroom, too. So I asked the lady, very respectfully (and in Spanish,) "Please, ma'am, my little son needs to use the restroom too. Could we, please?" Without hesitation, the lady reached under the counter for the key, handed it to me, and said, "It's right over there," with a very understanding smile.
After we had made use of the facilities, I handed the key back to the lady, with profuse thanks.
I made it into an object lesson for my boy. "Don't ever forget that polite manners will open all sorts of doors for you." He has never forgotten.
I hear that Tijuana has become a lot rougher than the days I remember, and I'm sorry to hear it. The city I remember was a fun place to visit. Some of the people I worked with even lived in Mexico, and crossed the border every day to work. My totally gringa supervisor (Spanish-speaking too) was one of them. She said she got a nice, beach apartment there, for a lot less than she would pay in San Diego. She like it there, very much.