When my closest friends and I booked our senior trip on the John Mayer Cruise to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, it was before the horror stories about Mexico arose. Soon, my friends and I shared stories of abducted American citizens, tour bus hijacking and the terrifying conditions of Mexican prisons. But since my friends and I were traveling to a safer area, and the cruise ship only docked there for one day, we decided the risk factor was low. But I left Cabo knowing a more horrifying truth.
As I stepped off the boat that took passengers from the cruise ship into Mexico, I could see several vendors lined up at the pier. While we waited in line to get on the tour boat, Mexican natives carried an arm’s full of merchandise such as Mexican wrestler masks and hand woven blankets in the blazing sun. We ventured further up the line, and I saw a girl of about 13 selling whistles with a parent nowhere in sight. As she blew the dolphin-shaped whistle to get the attention of potential buyers, I heard whispers of discomfort from the American travelers. The discomfort soon turned to silence when a boy of no older than 5 walked by selling candy with no parents behind him.
In America, we have our fair share of homeless people, but rarely do we see children begging for money from strangers in exchange for goods on the side of the street.
Americans have not reached true hard times until children spend a day begging for money, instead of going to school.
As we stepped onto the resort’s beach, the vendors only multiplied. At first I felt just as annoyed as all the other tourists by the constant nagging. As soon as you told one vendor “No thank you,” another one came by carting merchandise two minutes later. Then, I saw a man selling silver jewelry out of a briefcase with a small child next to his leg. Because of the limited amount of cash I brought into Mexico, I handed the man two dollars and told him I did not need anything in return. The child looked up and smiled. I knew that by now the child was used to constant rejection from American tourists, and I was hoping I was a glimpse of hope for him.
But as I looked down the beach I saw more adults selling goods with children by their sides, and realized I would never have enough money to tip all these people. The thought then set in that maybe even the adults, who were there alone, have children left at home who they are trying to support. As soon as this thought crossed my mind, I heard a woman yelling, “Do you not understand ‘No?’”
Americans have not reached true hard times until two dollars and a smile from a stranger is a rarity because they are looked down upon for trying to support their family.
But humans were not the only people suffering. As I was laying out on the beach, I heard a bark from a dog in the distance. When I looked up, I saw the dog had no collar and I could see his ribcage. Feeling sympathy, my friend and I started to give the dog our food and pour water into a cup on the ground. Just as the dog in front of me began to have a full stomach, another dog, who was even skinnier, walked up and looked for food and water, fur mangled and covered in sand. As we began to feed this dog, American tourists walked by with their small dog on a leash, and it was wearing a sweater.
America has not reached true hard times if the citizens can afford to clothe their dogs while some Mexican citizens cannot even afford to feed their dogs.
America’s economic crisis is forcing citizens, myself included, to give up lives of excess, but rarely does it force people to give up necessities. The people in Mexico have put their pride aside to support themselves and their family, and not once did I hear a complaint. I have complained about being forced to go to an in-state university, when children in Mexico do not even go to elementary school, so they can sell dolphin whistles to strangers. So instead of taking advice from self-proclaimed financial experts like Suze Orman, I’m going to follow the footsteps of Mexican citizens.
Americans can keep themselves from reaching hard times if they appreciate what they have, instead of complaining about what they do not have.