....or something like that! Ha! Ha! Jay paints a beautiful picture of my life with my PS2 over on his site. I laughed so hard when I read his entry because I kept thinking, "It's true!" Heh, you know me all too well, my friend! Hope you enjoy the PS2 you have, and I'm glad it's working okay for you! (I was worried it would dud out on your game!)
So yes, as you can all see, I finally bought a new PS2. It's nice and shiny. It doesn't make noises. It plays my games without freezing. I'm very happy. So happy I bought two new games to go with it! I thought of holding out for the "new and improved" PS2, but figured screw it. If I can get two years out of this one, the PS3 will be out soon and I'll have to upgrade anyway.
On another note, what the hell is up with all the crime going on over here in TC? Sheesh. My city is fairly safe, it always has been, but as of late, people are killing each other right and left! Is there some sort of foul oder in the air? Has Simplot's feedlot and Boise Cascade's paper mill finally driven us all to madness (you wouldn't believe the stench those two can create on a still night). Several months ago, some man was stabbled like 17 times RIGHT NEXT DOOR to my work! That didn't go over well with me, since I'm usually the last one to leave...ever since then, I'm always considering what items I have on my person could be used as a fatal weapon if I'm attacked. Disturbing but true. It's me or them...I do have a rather large, metal baseball bat in my car, but it's in the trunk...
Anyway, a few weeks ago, a highschool teacher was found dead on school property. He too, was stabbed. Apparently it was a gang initiation...Nice. Gangs are stupid. Dumbass stupid low life fuck ups who are to friggin lazy to try and make themselves better. Cowards...all of them. To the very core. Oh, they're all scary and crap in a group, a few by themselves, but deep down, they're all just scared little boys and girls, running away from the bumps life has thrown at them. Too afraid to tackle their problems like real human beings. Too afraid to be productive. Too afraid to be truely strong... It's pathetic how weak they really are. How naive and ignorant to think that "street smarts" makes you completely tough...
That's not how it works...strong people over come their problems. They see their weaknesses and the conquer them while becoming better people. They don't point fingers at society...they know the world is evil and hard, but that's their problem, no one elses. They don't delude themselves that they are "owed" anything...The world doesn't owe any of us jack shit. We're born and it's up to us to make our way...If anything, weak people like these gang thugs owe society something...because back in the day when we carried clubs and couldn't talk with words, people like them just died. There was no time or patience for useless beings who couldn't hack a hard world...A terrible, but true, reality.
However, now, we support criminals like them...we offer them "rehabilitation" and "choices". They have chances and choices, something I support up to a point. Some take them and go on to succeed, which is fantastic! But most don't, because at heart, they are too weak to try...to lazy because we enable them to be...and in turn, they prey upon our society, spreading their filth...taking the lives of innocent people and parading about like they are "tough and powerful". How sad...
I think what set me off so bad was the graffiti that has spread about town and the graffiti they found at the crime scene. The letters MP something (I can't remember for sure) were everywhere, and we later found out it was from a gang called "Mexican Pride *something". OMG! I'm not Mexican, and I was out raged. I know many, many Mexicans, all of who are some of the most amazing, caring, hardworking, funny people. The sheer audacity that these no good, moronic jackasses would attach "Mexcian Pride" to brutally murdering another human being just pisses me off to no end. Where is the pride in killing someone? Do they honestly thing "their people" will think they've done something worth commending? Do they think that going around killing people will make non Mexican's respect their race more? Are they that stupid and deluded?
They have no clue what they've done. They probably don't care. But if anything, they've shit on true Mexican Pride. These idiots aren't Mexican...they're just low rent thugs who happen to have Mexican genes. If they were true Mexican's they would be like the people I know...people who smile easily, tell wonderful stories, work hard, throw incredible feistas, make some of the best damn food I've ever eaten, respect and honor the importance of family and friends, and hold an general love of life, regardless of the hardships and struggles. Those are true Mexicans people.
One of my best friends told me once that inside the hispanic community here, there is a distinct line between what a Mexican is and what a "wet back" is. I was a bit surprised to hear the deragatory term come from him, since is, infact, hispanic. I thought it was a racist term used by us "gringos" to put down the Mexican people. I was shocked to find out that inside our little community, the term "wet back" has an even harsher meaning between the very same race of people. He said to me, "There are Mexcians, like me and my mom, and then there are 'wetbacks', the kind that don't care where their kids are or hang out on street corners drinking beer. They aren't Mexican."
Later, I was talking with another friend of mine during the graveyard shift at an old job. Her name was Guadalupe, but we called her Lupe for short. She sat at the desk across from me and watched as a few workers shuffled in. When they entered the cafeteria, she looked at me and said in heavily accented English, "Those people are the biggest fuckin wet backs." I nearly spit my soda at her, because I'd always thought that the term wet back meant a Mexcian person....end of story. It was a racial slur used by white people, black people, asian people, and other Hispanics who weren't quite "hispanic" anymore, meaning the spoke no other language than English, their parents had high paying jobs, and they lived in nice houses with a picket fence (yes, this is a hugely racist sterotype). Lupe wasn't one of those Mexican's, I knew that for a fact. In the circle of non-hispanics, she would be considered a "wet back" just because of her job, economic status, her house, the way she looked, etc. I never condemed her for those things. Stuff like that doesn't matter to me, but I honestly had no clearer meaning of the term, other than how it was used among us "gringos". After I managed to compose myself, I asked her what the difference was, and she told me. She talked to me about how within the hispanic community, there was a clear division between them. Mexican people who contributed to the community by working hard, educating themselves and their kids, caring for their familes, being legal in the states, working hard to make their lives better...those were true Mexicans. The people who came to the US to find a safer and better place to live. Wetbacks were the ones who took it all for granted. They came to the US still behaving like it was Mexico, like our rules and laws didn't apply. They were the people who got into trouble and gave everyone else a bad name. She got angrier the more she talked to me, and I could see exactly how divided their community was.
It was an eye opener for me. Before then, I never worked with people who couldn't speak my language well. I had to learn a bit of theirs to communicate, and sometimes I was disliked because I wasn't fluent. My boss, who was from Ecuador set those people straight by telling them that they were in "my" country and I didn't have to learn to talk to them in spanish. I learned a little bit anyway, mainly for myself, and because some of the friends I made there got the biggest kick out of my bad spanish...it was good for a few laughs. Even more so, once I got over the "Me and them" fear and became more curious about their culture, I found myself eating lunch with a table full of people who spoke about as much English as I did Spanish. Somehow, we all understood each other and those are some of my best memories. Soon, some of the older ladies and a few of the men were bringing me home made Tamales and Flauta's. (YUM) When I was sick with a cold, they would find someone to translate for them while they gave away special home remedies to cure flu, pnuemonia, brochitis, etc. Then they'd tell me to go home and go to bed. It was an order. *laughs* When I think about it now, back then, I was surrounded by the most caring, compassionate, and friendly people I've ever met. I miss them all very, very much. Occasionally I'll see someone in the store, and they remember me. I quickly find myself in a eager handshake or hug, while they should "Hola! Como estas!" at me. It makes me smile. It makes me laugh. And I always reply "Bein! Bein! Etu?"
Esa gente representa el orgullo mexicano verdadero.