But to assume that all Mexicans are beggars is to do the country a terrible disservice. And it s nice to know I ve got a couple of friends who aren t on the take, even though they won t let us help them. Despite the negative things you hear about Mexico, they aren t all true. Yes, there s crime, corruption, poverty and a lot of other nasty things. We ve had people give us money at public telephones because we didn t have change.
Some terrible things happen occasionally - just as they do in the U.S. and Canada.
I read about a particularly bad robbery one weekend in our local paper. It was one of those heartless crimes involving an elderly couple that makes you wonder if you re living in a sane world. But I had to remind myself that our local crime took place around the same time that Bill Cosby s son was needlessly murdered while he stopped to change a tire by the side of an LA freeway. That was an equally stupid and heartless crime. The difference is that when we hear of something like the Cosby incident we usually don t start criticizing all Americans in general.