Reporting a Crime – Gang Style

Aging seems to increase the fear factor.  I used to hear an neighbour in her 90′s, across the street, rattle her doorknob, each night, for up to thirty minutes to make sure she was safe.  I assumed it was fear.>

Then whilst reading  back  issues of Atencion I found a quote, in an article on  How to … report a crime By Krishna Villena

Trujillo emphasizes the importance of reporting crimes or suspicious activity.

I imagine the phone number at the police station rang for several days over the interpretation of what could be terms suspicious activity.

________________________

Basic steps in reporting and investigating a crime

1. Call emergency number 066 or the police department at 152-2890

When a crime has been perpetrated, call one of the emergency numbers. After the police arrive and take your statement, you will be asked to go to the district attorney’s office (Ministerio Público). This step is necessary to launch an investigation by a prosecutor and the police.

What is really going to happen

When you think a crime is about to happen call the emergency number.  The police will arrive.  Because you don’t speak any Spanish they are going to take you down to the police station.  The criminal code in Mexico is not like home.  The person reporting the crime is assumed to be guilty of the crime until proven innocent.

2. Go to the district attorney’s office; take a photo ID

To speed up the process, bring a valid photo ID (FM3, passport, driver’s license, etc.). Although there are bilingual staff at the district attorney’s office, you may wish to bring a translator if you do not speak Spanish.

What is really going to happen

Take every piece of ID you own with you (birthday cards, school photos, any ID you might have left over from when you worked, tickets to plays, boarding cards).  It is always good to keep these pieces of ID in a box near the front door because the police don’t like to wait.  Once you get to the District Attorney’s office, someone will speak to only you in Spanish.  So before you call the police, call someone from the Translation Gang to be in the house when the police arrive so that they can interpret what is being said to you.

3. Go to the information unit for prosecutor assignment

Investigations are routed to one of four prosecutors, depending on the nature of the crime. Your first stop at the district attorney’s office is the “information unit” (modulo de información) where your case will be assigned to the appropriate prosecutor and his staff, including a ministerial police officer (judicial).

What is really going to happen

Your first interrogation will just be someone yelling at you. Don’t worry there are no electric prods. You might be waterboarded. That simply means they will take your bottle of Evian water and dump it on the floor. Just smile and say Me Gusta Mexico.

4. Give your statement to the prosecuting lawyer and two ministerial secretaries

Once your prosecutor has been assigned, you enter a private area to make a statement. Josué Ezequiel Hernández Tovar, in charge of the information unit, said that in the case of theft, the agents will ask you to provide them with receipts for your stolen belongings to prove their existence. Hernández Tovar said that if you don’t have any or all of them, two witnesses, such as friends, neighbors or other acquaintances, can confirm the belongings were in your house before the robbery.

What is really going to happen

In this part they do yell at you. They are going to accuse you of having too much stuff. You need to have a reason for everything that was stolen and why you bought it. The real problem is proving how much you paid for it. Because bargaining is the norm in Mexico, no one believes that a receipt is the right price. So you and the prosecutors will bargain back and forth until they believe they have the “Good Price” for the item you said was stolen. You might have to bring friends in to tell the police how much you paid for the stolen item.

5. The agency determines the type of crime and investigates the scene

6. A file is created for your case (averiguación previa)

After the lawyer and agents complete their investigation of the scene, a file called averiguación previa (previous enquiry) is created, that includes information such as the name of the lawyer conducting your case, the victim’s name and the number of the agency,

What is really going to happen

The averiguación previa is filed away under “Crazy Gringos” and no one ever looks at it again.

The article suggest taking these precautions.  (Added suggestions in italics)

• Lock all doors and windows when you leave, even if only for a short time
  • (in fact it is best never to leave your house.)
• Change all the locks when you move into a new house.
  • (And while you are add it change the locks on your neighbor doors too.)
• Use timers to switch lights and radios on and off when you’re not at home.
  • (at Christmas,  buy those flashing light timers so the light go on and off every 10 seconds – very festive)
• If you have a faulty alarm that frequently goes off, have it fixed immediately and tell your neighbors that it has been repaired.
  • ( don’t fix it, just tell them you fixed it.  It makes the street more interesting with alarms going off all the time)
• Install a deadbolt (cerrojo) lock on your door.
  • (on every door including closet doors)
• If you lose your keys, change the locks immediately.
  • (keep three sets of locks and keys and simply switch back and forth each time you lose the keys.  That way robbers will be two changes behind.)
• Before turning your key over to a housecleaner, gardener or any maintenance workers for several hours, make sure the person is honest and reputable.
  • (Make the service person leave one of their children with you for several days after the work is done.  You can clean up the child clean and make them do chores until you are sure you won’t be robbed)
• Don’t leave notes for service people or family members on the door.
  • (Ignore that rule, robbers can’t read English.  In fact they can’t even read)
• Call the police and talk to your neighbors about any suspicious people or strange cars you notice in the vicinity.
  • (Make a daily call.  The police like to keep in touch)
• Check that trees located near windows can’t be used by burglars to get into your house. (But under no circumstance, climb the tree yourself.
  
  • One older woman in Guadalupe is still stuck in her tree
• Ask for credentials from any salespeople who request entry to your home. Ask them to slide their ID under the door. Many professional burglars use this ruse to check out homes.
  • (This needs no comment)
• If someone comes to your door asking to use the phone to call a mechanic or the police, keep the door locked and make the call yourself.
  • (No, buy a gun and shoot them)
• Dogs are good deterrents for burglars. Even a small, noisy dog can be effective.
  • (Again this is not good advice as someone is going to break into your house just to kill your dog)
• If you are going to be out of town for a long time, ask a friend or neighbor to check your house weekly on different days and at different times.
  • (Bad advice, you should never never leave your house.  Have everything delivered.)

Civil List – Chapter 21 – Basura es Mi Vida

Adjusting to a new country takes time, that is if you realize you are in a different country. Failure to realize you are not in Kansas anymore, creates a lot of stress.

Fran was upset by Garbage and turned to the Civil List for Support.

I am new to SMA and I am curious. I have been many different places in Mexico and I have never seen as much trash as I see in SMA. I do not understand the mentality of the Mexican people. Do they not care about their planet, their country and their beautiful city? They walk down the street and throw their trash where they are walking. They dump trash in empty lots. They litter the country side with trash. Do they not care about disease, bugs and rodents? They even litter in their own neighborhoods. Trash pickup is usually 2 to 3 times a week and is free.
Why are they such dirty people.

She struck a nerve as others were soon adding their own Garbage Woes to the Thread.

Since the first of the year our garbage has not been picked up. Normal garbage service in La Canada is Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Each garbage day, we put our garbage out early in the morning and, it is still there in the late afternoon. Last year it was always picked up early. Today, it looked like other garbage was picked up but not ours. I do not have a clue. Is there a number I should call or what? Any help would be appreciated.

______________________________________

It seems like Garbage Disposal is a major issue in San Miguel. The Trash Woes grew. Imagine the pain these people experience by caring for other people’s trash

We have another problem with trash. We live on the corner of La Quinta. There is trash pick up on this corner on both Mondays and Fridays. However, recently someone has been leaving trash on this corner on any given day.

Usually dogs get into it and make a mess. We have had people knock on our door to “pick up the street”. We have.

We have also had someone deposit the trash at our front door implying that it is our mess.

We always have our gardener bring out our trash on the correct day.

How do we prevent these people from using our corner as a daily dumping site? How do we get people to stop leaving other peoples mess at our front door?

This morning, once again, someone is piling trash in front of our door.

I don’t know if it is someone from La Quinta or Canadita that is putting the trash at the corner, or someone who is coming from elsewhere to just get rid of their bags.

We are constantly picking up after the dogs who rip open these bags. Our bodega is full of other peoples trash.

How do we get a sign or perhaps a trash bin installed on that corner?

We are drowning in other’s trash

Whenever there is moaning and groaning on the Civil List people soon turn to offering solutions.

I’ve wondered about this, too. I have noticed since someone put up a nice sign at the Sancho Panza ‘tree’ prohibiting the dumping of garbage it is now being dumped at our corner.

I think we should go together and put up the same sign on our corner. (Does anyone know who put up that sign?) And, at the same time, contact the city and see what, if anything, they will do.

Garbage pick up is Monday and Friday from around 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Placing neatly bagged or boxed garbage the same morning seems reasonable.

We’ve also considered pointing our entrance security camera at that corner to figure out who is doing this.

And someone from the Spiritual Gang has a simple solution with how to get God involved in your Trash Woes

If you put a Lady Guadalupe near or on your door that should stop the problem. That is one thing that the Mexicans respect and will honor.  The bigger the better.

____________________________

Then the reality of living in another country dawns on one member.

Yeah, when I moved here I did that too, for a while. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really work. Some people will just throw their trash on the streets regardless. So, I just clean in front of my house every day and hope for the best. It’s the “trade-off” of living in this otherwise magical place.

Then the Doing Good Works Gang comes up with a suggestion that involves the community, Trash and Good Works.

I would definitely be interested in organizing a team to pick up trash on the sides of the road. The thing that drew me to Mexico and San Miguel in particular is the natural beauty of the place. There’s something very romantic about this desert scene. And I’ve noticed a recycling plant in San Miguel that offers a small reimbursement for the recyclable materials you bring in. Just something to keep in mind

Another chord struck.

I, too, am sick of seeing all the trash everywhere…when I become a resident of SMA in about five months, I intend to start a program for trash pickup with the probably naive hope that once an area is cleared of trash people will think twice about throwing junk on the streets…want to join me in organizing pickups?

And here is capitalism at its best. For $9 pesos they will pick up your garbage

The Civil List – Chapter 8 – I Am Not a Thief

The Tuesday Market sells lots of stuff, including very cheap movies.

And therein lies one of the moral dilemmas of San Miguel de Allende – buy or not. Well, a moral dilemma for some.

I used to buy crap copies of movies I didn’t want from the Tuesday market. Now I get titles I wanted in better quality. Hmm let me think about it. I’m really worried about people in movies not getting their royalty checks or the Mexican police hauling me off when I’m a starving artist in Mexico.

So the conflict begins between the starving artists and those who collect royalties. Yet, there are more than these people involved in this dilemma. This in a San Miguel In Joke but look at the map and explain what you can buy at the cafe shown by the orange square.

As with any moral dilemma there are two sides – the liberal artists who lives off royalties against the socialist fighting injustice and big corporations. Where would poor Michael Moore land on this issue.

Does this mean there are thieves San Miguel – copyright thieves who don’t view themselves thieves but liberators?

This, as with all things in San Miguel played out on the Civil list. One of the first to weight in was someone who gets royalities.

International Copyright law forbids the duplication of any copyrighted material. Period. To do so is called stealing. To do so and then sell those pirated discs, regardless of where or when, simply compounds the act of stealing. You are selling (or buying) something that does not belong to you. All the obfuscation and self-justification in the world cannot hide that simple fact. Shoplifting is stealing. Plagiarism is stealing. Copying and selling pirated discs is stealing. Supporting the shops in town that sell pirated discs is supporting stealing.

An untrained leftist lawyer weights in

Just because an action may be a violation of U.S. copyright laws does not mean that it is a violation of copyright laws in all other countries. However, the U.S. is strenuously trying to make it so by pushing other countries to bring their copyright laws more in alignment with U.S. copyright laws.

And then a satisfied leftists customer speaks.

I bought 2 movies from (name withheld) and they were of excellent quality. He even bought a movie I couldn’t find anywhere off the I tunes store. I offered to pay for it and he gave it to me for free but kept it in his collection. I think what he is doing is awesome so get off his back. If you don’t want a service on here simply don’t use it. Too many high horse riders on here giving nice people flack. Can’t we just all get along. This can apply to many other posts circulating at the present time.

Counterpoint

I believe you’re missing the point here. The quality of the pirated DVD has no bearing on the fact that it’s illegal, that you’re literally stealing money from artists or actors who have spent many years perfecting their craft, and if you condone that, you probably never, ever get mad when someone cuts in front of you while you’re waiting in line or when someone steals from you! I’m not there yet.

Then one of the Pirates speaks up

Those guys are copying copies of copies. In Mexican law you can copy it if you own an original, I don’t own a store or a stand where I sell them. I copy them for friends. I have a great lawyer that keeps me informed on my rights. I’m a huge movie, TV. and music fan. With the little money I make I just buy more movies to add to the collection that I share with everyone. If you buy a movie from me with the profit most of the time I get another movie you haven’t been able to find. I own all the originals I didn’t copy them from Blockbuster or Netflix. Its very easy to copy a movie. But what about a movie that Blockbuster or Netflix doesn’t have??? I have all of those hard to get titles that you cant find here or on Netflix. And you can get more that 2 at a time.

Then comes a little voice

I don’t know what the Mexican copyright laws are but I do know every so often..a bus pulls up to the Tuesday market with police type men and removes the cd’s and dvd’s and the owners and take them away on the bus. I have been there when they have done that.

The debate soon changes to economics and Robin Hoodism

Oh my…. the DVD debate. I can only add that if the movie industry would stop charging more than $20 US for a DVD, stop charging more than $12 per person at the theatre (in Canada) and if they would stop paying tens of millions of dollars to the stars…. maybe there wouldn’t be such a temptation to find an alternative source for movies… legal or not. I agree with the person who said I am not so concerned about the loss of revenue to the makers of these movies… they already overcharge grossly for their products and make HUGE profits for their pockets. I buy them at the stores in Canada and I buy them at the Tuesday market and I sleep at night. It’s all relative.

The Artists quips back..

A lot of people depend on the income from royalties and residual payments based on legitimate sales of our work. If you want to see a movie, please buy or rent the disc. I will thank you, my colleagues will thank you, and eventually my heirs will thank you.

Finally someone admits they steal and feel justified.

I already GIVE the industry my full support by attending a ridiculous amount of movies at the theaters – primarily MM right here in SMA, and by subscribing to HBO, Netflix, etc. Some of those movies cheat ME of my hard-earned money. Therefore, I have no qualms of conscience if I should choose to buy a copy of some movie on the cheap – supporting my local SMA Mexican entrepreneur; and, 2. I DON’T CARE!!! about your industry-sponsored version of morality.

Are there thieves in San Miguel? Is this an organized gang of Copyright Thieves?

The Civil List – Chapter 17 – Errant Balls

The Soccer Ball

Living with locals can be a challenge as Marie found out.   She turned to the Civil List to find a solution

We have teens that play soccer in front of our house almost every night. I have no problem with them playing soccer. However the play often is kicked into our garage door and our front door. The noise is awful it shakes the whole house. I have tried to talk with the kids on numerous occasions to no avail. They are just plain rude and do not care who they disturb. I call the police and they come and the kids stop. However it gets very old to have to call every night. Any suggestions would help.

A solution is always so simple as this post told Marie.

One day when the children were playing  football against my door – simple, I opened the door, caught the ball as it entered my house, uninvited. They did not ask for it back. I now have two balls. I haven’t heard that horrible noise of the ball against my door for months, but the footballs are taking up space in my entrance closet.

The Soccer Ball Guard Dog

One solution creates another problem and who needs more balls to store. But resourcefulness is always present on the Civil List. This solution involves using your dog. Pets are so useful.

The kids play ball in the street and it comes up over my wall too often. Then they would bang on my door and ask me to give them the ball back. It was quite a nuisance. Now, I have a dog, for protection. Last week a yellow ball came over the wall. My dog loved it and tore it into shreds.
The kids banged on my door to ask to get the ball back. I told them I was sorry but my dog had eaten it. I don’t think I’ll be bothered any more.

Cookies and Good Times

But social consciousness is never far in San Miguel. Someone soon raised the old jailing conflict between punishment and changing the behaviors as a solution

Reward them????? No punish bad behavior – reward good behavior Maybe cookies ???_________________________________

Free Cookies must have set someone off as it wasn’t long before violence was suggested as a solution

Honey, Aim at the Soccer Players

Before I try firearms and going to use the hose first.

Shock was felt on the Civil list with this solution. Guns are so Republican and the hose bring back the Democratic Convention in Chicago of 1968.

We have to put this “rude teen” issue in context. These kids are not robbing, plundering, assaulting, or creating graffiti – they are playing soccer. Isn’t this the kind of thing that we would suggest that young people get involved with as an alternative to other less desirable activities. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of easy to access places to play soccer in San Miguel. One alternative might be to try to rig up some goal posts that these kids could use instead of using your garage door.

And the final solution

Well, I agree the racket is awful-but knowing the source makes it “happy noise” as opposed to just plain obnoxious. The other day my buzzer rang and there at the door were a gang of boys who had lost their ball into the unoccupied garden next door-i said come and get it and gave them the escalera and a broom and the bigger boys went over the wall like a pros and retrieved not one but two balls-bonus! and then patted me! and raced out the door. Happy noise.

The Civil List – Chapter 10 – The Plane That Spoke

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Ruth heard the loud speaker and ran into the street to find out who was disturbing her peace.  She looked up and down but saw nothing.  Her anger building,  she ran up the steps to the roof to see if it was coming from another street.  Nothing but the sound was getting louder.  She looked up and saw a plane.  The noise was coming from the plane.  Her anger built.

Bang – she posted on the Civil List about this plane.

Who shall we report this plane that is circling San Miguel right now with the loud vocal announcements????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She wasn’t sure if swearing was allowed on the Civil List but she was so angry that her San Miguel was invaded by talking noisy planes.

She thought for a minute and pulled out her San Miguel Complaining List and looked for the number of  the DEPARTMENT OF ECOLGIA and reported it.  The man who spoke rather good English said he had received several calls already and that they were going to the Circo (circus) to tell them to stop.

Bang – she posted what she had done on the Civil List to assure people that action was being taken.   She was terrified that this plane would start an avalanche of other businesses using this new marketing tool.

Bang – her first response.

San Miguel is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With that distinctive award goes many social responsibilities.  Advertising with loudspeakers from the air over San Miguel should be banned. It echos off the walls of every home in the area and is incredibly intrusive. If it is allowed, many other businesses will soon follow suit, from bars to restaurants to real estate companies

Bang – the next response tying the airplane to Unesco, and Safety Issues in Parque Juarez.

You bet Iwill call, my dogs are freaked and Iam pissed off! and another thing, a Unesco world heritage site should keep Juarez Park a safe place for people and their dogs.

Bang – the next response wants to know where and when the circus is.  Seems the airplane loudspeaker is not clear enough for her

I agree that having an airplane buzz SMA, blaring information about the circus is unreasonably obnoxious.

However, I am interested in attending this particular circus. Short of my taking a cab out to Salida a Celaya, does anyone out there know what time their performances are being held.

Bang – the self righteous Candy, now attack Ruth for overstepping her Guest Status in San Miguel.

“If we allow”, are WE now in charge of local Mexican laws? First I hear we are “Guests” but nobody can show who invited them, and now “we can or cannot allow” Mx.s to break their own law???

Bang – the last response draws a heated rebuttal from Mandy about responsibility in San Miguel.

Candy, We are legal residents of Mexico and San Miguel. We have the right and the responsibility to be contributing citizens. Ruth is exercising her right to communicate with our public servants in an attempt to make the city a better place for all. Thanks to Ruth.

Bang – Indignation is building and someone has to remind readers of the Civil List of all the Good things Gringros do for San Miguel and tell them if they don’t want to run San Miguel then they should get out of town.

Well said Mandy – “uninvited guests” indeed…I wonder what the Mexican business owners would say to that? Or the thousands of Mexican families who rely on foreign employers. Or the orphans that are sitting down to a healthy meal or the dogs and cats being nurtured in the SPA?

We are here because we love San Miguel and much of what we love here was preserved and supported by the early artists that poured thousands of hours and dollars into San Miguel de Allende for decades. They supported, improved and protected San Miguel, in solid coordination with the local Mexican population, so it could become the international city it is today – loved and supported by people from all over the world.

The x-pat community has been part of SMA for a long time – its opinions, both good and bad, are now part of who and what San Miguel is – if you don’t like its involvement – perhaps this isn’t the right town for you? If you haven’t already, it might be educational to go live in another Mexican town of this size and see if it is more to your liking.

So the little plane that talked provided an opportunity on the Civil List to remind readers that San Miguel was created by expats, for expats and should be run by Expat.

The Civil List – Chapter 14 – The Cereal Robber*

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Not everyone in San Miguel is well educated and well read.  Not everyone in San Miguel is comfortable with the dynamic of living in a city that is  in a foreign country.  Not everyone in San Miguel lives with an appropriate level of fear.  Not everyone in San Miguel reads carefully.

These facts all came together one day for Mona Crewson.  Mona is a single lady and lives by herself in Centro.  She is fearful of the world and in particular the Three R’s – Rapers, Robbers and Rowdies.  Life is a continual attack upon her peace and quiet and her defenses are always on various levels of alert.

Every day Mona sets an alert for herself based on what she reads on the Civil List and the crime section in Atencion.   She continually emails her friends alerting them to the dangers she has found in San Miguel.  She always says “Better Safe than Sorry.”

Her friends have a variety of nicknames for her, one being Emily Latilla and Nervous Nelly.

One day Mona was reading the Civil List and while doing a search for past Daily Dentist recommendations, stumbled unaware into the archives and found a posting on a Cereal Robber in San Miguel. From the report it was not one episode of Cereal Robbing but several. The posting was by a well respected woman she had heard of in San Miguel. So she reposted it on the Civil List to remind people of this terrible present danger; send copies of the post to her friends and set her advisory system to an Orange Alert.   She also hid her box of Post Toasties under the bed and covered it with a blanket.

What happened next was quite amazing.  First several people wrote to say that the post was several years old and that the Cereal Robber had been caught and that all Cereal in San Miguel was safe.  Mona was now upset, that the person who had written that post, had made it available to her and had caused her such embarrassment.  She responded, criticizing this woman for doing what she didn’t do.  The criticized woman correctly asked for an apology that was not forth coming.  Posts went back and forth but nary a word from Mona.  Mona was too busy with her Orange Alert to apologize.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

*This post in no way wishes to diminish the horror that the actual serial rapist created in San Miguel in 2006

The Civil List – Chapter 4 – Crying Wolf (or Lion)

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Not every tool in the shed is sharp.   The figurative tools are generally a lot sharper than the literal tools in the shed but literal tools are the most fun to use because they don’t know they aren’t very sharp.

The  literal world can be a very scary place to live as this Civil List story shows.

This post appeared January 20.

Hello everybody. There is a very friendly lion that has been living in my neighborhood for half a year. He is liked by almost everybody in Bellavista, near Malanquin, but somebody called Ecologia an he is now in danger of extinction. Ecologia is coming Wednesday or Thursday to take him away and end his life, no questions asked. I already have too many wild animals in my house (5 of them) and can not adopt a lion. If any of you would like to meet him, see the photo section. He desperately needs a loving, caring family.

For a literal person here are the key words – Lion, Ecologia, Extinction, Wild Animals, Liked by Everyone and End His Life.   The literal person does not pause to consider the intent of the poster nor if there are any spelling errors.  The words lion and wild animals leap off the page and strike terror into the literal heart but liked by everyone and end his life speak of kindness and cruelty and melt a literal heart.  The literal heart is torn between fear and love of a lion as was this kind poster.  Yes there is kindness on the Civil List

I may be interested… is he “House Trained”???

Literal problem solving came up with this brilliant solution by linking lions to where  lions live.

Isn’t there a wild life reserve located somewhere in the near vicinity? I’m sure they would love to acquire a loving ‘wild’ animal.

Come on people, put your heads together and find a solution. If I were not 8 hours away I’d be doing the homework and making the arrangements.   PLEASE make this happen for such a beautiful helpless creature!

But there are literal others who are full of judgment as to whether lions are better off in zoos, homes or with Narcotraficantes.

I hope they find the lion a good place to live, and I sincerely hope you reconsider having wild animals as “pets”. Its not fair to them. So what if the lion gets along with everyone in the neighborhood? Trying to domesticate wild animals is an abomination against nature of the cruelest kind. I don’t think zoos are better, but hopefully the lion can be placed in a nice zoo and not with some heartless narcotraficante, for lack of better facilities.

Then the voice of reason, posts what figuratives are thinking.

Am I missing something here is there really a Lion running around?

The literals start to get confused after some more problem solving.

You must have missed a thread. It is not a lion, but a small dog…I think Lion had something to do with the dog’s name.

I know…confusing…I was shocked too until I saw her cute little picture.  So, everyone can quit worrying. The recent circus did not leave a lion behind.   I went looking for the lion’s picture in the photo section. Nothing there!

Now confusion reigns.  Is it a dog named Leon or a Lion.  Some people cling to the literal despite the evidence.

You missed the email from the sender saying it was a dog named “Leon” not a lion. Not sure I believe this though.

Finally the original poster, aware of the panic caused in town, comes clean.

It has come to my attention that, unintentionally, I created some confusion among people interested in the “Lion”. My intention was to create interest in a HOMELESS DOG that lives in my neighborhood which was named LEON by the policemen that patrol the area. Please go to the photo section and look for “LION FOR ADOPTION”. I did not think people would believe a real lion was running free in a neighborhood. Oh, and my “5 wild animals” are 5 dogs.

The literal world has just fallen apart.  A cruel joke has been played upon them.  It’s all fun until someone loses a small pet to a lion.

The Civil List – Chapter 12 – The Car Wash Blues

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The Car Wash Blues

The Civil List is a place of metaphorisis as Sam soon found out.

Sam joined the Civil List but had only used it to search for information.  He had never read many replies.  Today he simply wanted to share a good car wash place he had been too and did not know that his post would end up as a platform for justice and environmental concerns and change Sam forever.

So he posted on  the Civil List Mon Jan 5, 2009 1:37 pm.

I just had my car washed at a great new place.  It’s a new business owned by 2 nice, English speaking Mexican men at Eco #50 in La Lejona II.  They have great equipment for washing, waxing and can even wash upholstery and headliners.  It’s at a private home, so there is even a nice waiting room with magazines and TV.

What followed  were the usual  Where, When, Who, What questions such as

Where is this car wash?

There appears to be more direction need than a simple address but still it is innocent.

How much did they charge?

It has to be cheap but again a innocent pricing question.

But it is not long before Sam began to experience the evil poster.  If you don’t know, the sound of a firecracker in San Miguel is made every time an evil poster posts.  Evil is a word open to interpretation.  The intent is judgment.

Sam soon found himself judged for washing his car.

How about using your young neighbors to wash your car? They certainly could use the money.

Sam is now confronted with the conflict between his clean car and poverty in Mexico.  This commenter is always mindful of the poverty around her and looking for ways to solve the problem of poverty in Mexico through finding ways to spread US largesse to neighbors.

Sam started to think about this advice.  Should he always ask his neighbours first, before heading out.  Someone is probably a part time dentists and every Mexican can cut hair.  Most Mexicans have a full farm inside their enclosure so you wouldn’t havet have to go far for farm produce.  Then he wondered if he should probably stay home all day and have his neighbours meet all his needs.  Sam was about to learn about the  Shut In Solution to Poverty.

My neighbour has a Citrus Grove in her backyard and supplies us with all our Citrus Needs.

No sooner had Sam wrapped his head around how he could solve poverty than the environmentalist start to speak.  Self righteousness knows no bounds about pointing out the carelessness and stupidity of everyone.  When you have been charged with saving the earth then you must speak out.

A car wash with pressurized water, is criminal! It uses far too much water. A bucket is all you need. We have to be careful.

Again Sam did  not realize washing his car was a criminal act nor the dangers to the mother earth of pressurized water.  Poor Sam was an idiot to not know about  a bucket of water and the need to be careful with water.  This Poster (although she sees herself as a Crusader) probably drinks her bathwater and only bathes when the dogs start to follow her.  Next she will be asking people who wash their sidewalk to use their own spit.

Sam has not left his house in days and may never post again and his wife is so upset about how dirty their car is.

New Novel Set in San Miguel de Allende (Coming Soon)

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The Civil List

Looking forward to writing a review of this soon to be published Stephen King novel set in San Miguel.

 

Evil has a sound in San Miguel.  Everytime you hear a bang in San Miguel it means that a new post or a response has been made on the Civil List.  Listen for the Bangs and it will tell you Evil is afoot.

Stay tuned for instalments from the book.