The biggest reason that I can think of is that Hollandaise Sauce requires strict timing. I recently invited eight people for a sit down formal Thanksgiving dinner which was to have commenced at 6PM. At 6.15PM I called the one person not present to ask if they were on their way and was informed that they would arrive in half an hour. Fifteen minutes before their expected arrival I began to separate eggs and melt butter. This delinquent guest, after 45 minutes, had still failed to show.
When he did finally show I did the best I could and just served food. Some of my guests, who knew what I had intended to prepare, asked me about the sauce and I had to come up with an answer that differed from: We are not having it because this asshole guest arrived late and ruined it. Later I asked myself what Mexican's cook for guests. I mean do they make anything that requires timing? Or is everything good cold or hot or is everything suitable for the microwave, an appliance I do not own?
Mexicans seem to pride themselves on not being on time. For the life of me I can not figure out who this benefits, but everyone, so far, without exception, declares Mexicans are never on time. And don't think for a second it is simply foreigners declaring this. It is Mexicans who tell you this and they tell you this information in an apologetic manner. Not only are they not on time but they don't bother to text or call to say they are going to be late or are not coming at all. Many a day I have sat waiting only to have the sun go down before I realized an expected event was not going to happen. You may be reading this and think this is a phenomena about individual people. It is not. The gas company, the cable company... they all do the same thing.
It was suggested to me that next time (if there is a next time) that I begin the dinner without the tardy person. And this might make sense to me but what if the tardy person rings my doorbell an hour after we have all begun eating, I don't have a clue what to do other than pretend I am not home. If I invite them in, the grimace on my face and the cloud over my head will surely be a dead giveaway. What do I offer this person? Cold food? A place at the table? They have in some ways become an unwanted guest. I don't know what to do about such people other than to permanently cross them off my list of people to invite for dinner. If I were the type to invite you for a B-B-Q or boxed food quickly prepared, I would not have a problem because this type of food is casual and heaped upon plates as though food for sows. Events such as these do not require timing. They require masses of people with an appetite.
Hollandaise Sauce requires small heaps of real butter which in Mexico is difficult to come by and rather expensive. My Hollandaise Sauce turned into yellow mortar suitable for placing tiles. My tardy guest had me imagining his face on Wanted for Waste of Butter posters.
Can someone please tell me why being late might be seen as a compliment? Why I should be enthralled rather than upset? Does someone know something that I have not considered? Am I living in a country filled will gleeful passive-aggressives or is coming ridiculously late to be viewed as you wanting to stay after everyone else has gone? As an American, the way I observe Mexicans being made to wait, I perceive it as an insult to Mexicans. As though they have nothing better to do than wait around; as though their time is not valued. This is not just happening to me.
Shopping in Merida's Home Depot, agitates all my OCD tendencies. I leave that store mumbling to myself for a good half hour once I have left. Upon arrival, if you are returning anything, you have to stop and have a security officer ogle the item and give it an official stamp so that you can proceed into the store. You then have to take it to the return counter where they ogle it some more and then give you your money back. If you are exchanging the item you then have to take the new item to the regular checkout and pay for it again. In the check out lane, once your turn has arrived, they take everything out of the box and examine it! (In the same way I once had to psyche myself up to enter the New York City subway I similarly prepare myself to go to Home Depot). On your way out another security guard ogles the new purchase and then finally you are set free. If you parked in the handicapped parking spaces, which are at one end of the parking lot, away from the exit, you have to walk the entire length of the store again to get back to your car. If you buy paint, be prepared to have feelings for suicide. You have to go to the paint department, order your paint (half an hour easy) and are then given a slip of paper to go pay for the paint. The paint man is not mixing your paint while you go pay. You return with the 'paid for' receipt and he begins the process of acknowledging you as if you were never seen before. If you came for other items besides paint you have to remember to go shop for them first otherwise you have to stand in line twice. What kills me is that practically everything in Home Depot for sale is about the size of a Great Dane. Nothing can be slipped in the pocket and snuck away. I mean, come on, how does one shop lift a toilet or a two by four or a kitchen sink? In WalMart you have to get salespeople to unlock items that cost $1.80! Way too tiring for me.
I am handicapped and Mexico does have handicapped parking spots but they are blocked for the most part so that you can't use them or have to get out of your car to remove the cone yourself. If you glide into a space be prepared for someone to come over to your car and ask you what your disability is. If you are driving the car or alight from the car without obvious signs of end stage Rickets then be prepared to be told you can't park there, even if you have a handicapped plaque. I have been told that services or consideration for the handicapped is minimal here, and those that seem to have some level of concern for these issues seem to think that being handicapped means you are a white outline, surrounded by blue and are in a wheelchair. If you don't look like the emblem be prepared to get questioned. And for God's sake don't get it into your head that the majority of cars parked in these spaces are being utilized by the handicapped. They aren't. They are being used by people who don't give a rats ass about the handicapped and can't see why someone who is handicapped should have a parking space reserved for their private use. In these matters, Merida is behind the times.
Merida has a high end store, Liverpool, that is greatly overpriced and is really, in terms of selection, a step below Macy's. But the one thing they do have is customer service. I am not a big fan of this store, because of price and selection, but I often shop there because I am not treated as if my time and energy is of no importance. They are also not in the habit of copying your credit card number if your purchase is over 100.00, unlike Chapur. Liverpool sells Genoa Salami for 36 bucks a pound. And they sell it with a straight face. Sometimes you just want to get in and out, hassle free, and be treated well; and sometimes that treatment, for me, is worth the extra peso.
Time is not valued here in the same way it is in America and this aspect really doesn't bother me but wasted time does bother me. Errands that normally took 30 minutes turn into two hours not because of language barriers but because one is standing and waiting or having to repeat a process two or three times.
Maybe that's why everyone is late. Everyone left their house, on time, for a 20 minute errand that turned into two hours. Yup. That's it.
UPDATE: I relayed this story to a guest who has traveled extensively throughout Mexico and had been invited numerous times to various meals. She informed me that people showed up at all times and that with each arrival the host got up and prepared food individually for each successive person. This is never going to happen in my house. I am too old, too tired and too prone to Tourette's-like outbursts.
When he did finally show I did the best I could and just served food. Some of my guests, who knew what I had intended to prepare, asked me about the sauce and I had to come up with an answer that differed from: We are not having it because this asshole guest arrived late and ruined it. Later I asked myself what Mexican's cook for guests. I mean do they make anything that requires timing? Or is everything good cold or hot or is everything suitable for the microwave, an appliance I do not own?
Mexicans seem to pride themselves on not being on time. For the life of me I can not figure out who this benefits, but everyone, so far, without exception, declares Mexicans are never on time. And don't think for a second it is simply foreigners declaring this. It is Mexicans who tell you this and they tell you this information in an apologetic manner. Not only are they not on time but they don't bother to text or call to say they are going to be late or are not coming at all. Many a day I have sat waiting only to have the sun go down before I realized an expected event was not going to happen. You may be reading this and think this is a phenomena about individual people. It is not. The gas company, the cable company... they all do the same thing.
It was suggested to me that next time (if there is a next time) that I begin the dinner without the tardy person. And this might make sense to me but what if the tardy person rings my doorbell an hour after we have all begun eating, I don't have a clue what to do other than pretend I am not home. If I invite them in, the grimace on my face and the cloud over my head will surely be a dead giveaway. What do I offer this person? Cold food? A place at the table? They have in some ways become an unwanted guest. I don't know what to do about such people other than to permanently cross them off my list of people to invite for dinner. If I were the type to invite you for a B-B-Q or boxed food quickly prepared, I would not have a problem because this type of food is casual and heaped upon plates as though food for sows. Events such as these do not require timing. They require masses of people with an appetite.
Hollandaise Sauce requires small heaps of real butter which in Mexico is difficult to come by and rather expensive. My Hollandaise Sauce turned into yellow mortar suitable for placing tiles. My tardy guest had me imagining his face on Wanted for Waste of Butter posters.
Can someone please tell me why being late might be seen as a compliment? Why I should be enthralled rather than upset? Does someone know something that I have not considered? Am I living in a country filled will gleeful passive-aggressives or is coming ridiculously late to be viewed as you wanting to stay after everyone else has gone? As an American, the way I observe Mexicans being made to wait, I perceive it as an insult to Mexicans. As though they have nothing better to do than wait around; as though their time is not valued. This is not just happening to me.
Shopping in Merida's Home Depot, agitates all my OCD tendencies. I leave that store mumbling to myself for a good half hour once I have left. Upon arrival, if you are returning anything, you have to stop and have a security officer ogle the item and give it an official stamp so that you can proceed into the store. You then have to take it to the return counter where they ogle it some more and then give you your money back. If you are exchanging the item you then have to take the new item to the regular checkout and pay for it again. In the check out lane, once your turn has arrived, they take everything out of the box and examine it! (In the same way I once had to psyche myself up to enter the New York City subway I similarly prepare myself to go to Home Depot). On your way out another security guard ogles the new purchase and then finally you are set free. If you parked in the handicapped parking spaces, which are at one end of the parking lot, away from the exit, you have to walk the entire length of the store again to get back to your car. If you buy paint, be prepared to have feelings for suicide. You have to go to the paint department, order your paint (half an hour easy) and are then given a slip of paper to go pay for the paint. The paint man is not mixing your paint while you go pay. You return with the 'paid for' receipt and he begins the process of acknowledging you as if you were never seen before. If you came for other items besides paint you have to remember to go shop for them first otherwise you have to stand in line twice. What kills me is that practically everything in Home Depot for sale is about the size of a Great Dane. Nothing can be slipped in the pocket and snuck away. I mean, come on, how does one shop lift a toilet or a two by four or a kitchen sink? In WalMart you have to get salespeople to unlock items that cost $1.80! Way too tiring for me.
I am handicapped and Mexico does have handicapped parking spots but they are blocked for the most part so that you can't use them or have to get out of your car to remove the cone yourself. If you glide into a space be prepared for someone to come over to your car and ask you what your disability is. If you are driving the car or alight from the car without obvious signs of end stage Rickets then be prepared to be told you can't park there, even if you have a handicapped plaque. I have been told that services or consideration for the handicapped is minimal here, and those that seem to have some level of concern for these issues seem to think that being handicapped means you are a white outline, surrounded by blue and are in a wheelchair. If you don't look like the emblem be prepared to get questioned. And for God's sake don't get it into your head that the majority of cars parked in these spaces are being utilized by the handicapped. They aren't. They are being used by people who don't give a rats ass about the handicapped and can't see why someone who is handicapped should have a parking space reserved for their private use. In these matters, Merida is behind the times.
Merida has a high end store, Liverpool, that is greatly overpriced and is really, in terms of selection, a step below Macy's. But the one thing they do have is customer service. I am not a big fan of this store, because of price and selection, but I often shop there because I am not treated as if my time and energy is of no importance. They are also not in the habit of copying your credit card number if your purchase is over 100.00, unlike Chapur. Liverpool sells Genoa Salami for 36 bucks a pound. And they sell it with a straight face. Sometimes you just want to get in and out, hassle free, and be treated well; and sometimes that treatment, for me, is worth the extra peso.
Time is not valued here in the same way it is in America and this aspect really doesn't bother me but wasted time does bother me. Errands that normally took 30 minutes turn into two hours not because of language barriers but because one is standing and waiting or having to repeat a process two or three times.
Maybe that's why everyone is late. Everyone left their house, on time, for a 20 minute errand that turned into two hours. Yup. That's it.
UPDATE: I relayed this story to a guest who has traveled extensively throughout Mexico and had been invited numerous times to various meals. She informed me that people showed up at all times and that with each arrival the host got up and prepared food individually for each successive person. This is never going to happen in my house. I am too old, too tired and too prone to Tourette's-like outbursts.
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