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April 08, 2007
Deep In the Heart of Texas, Part Two
Sign on Club, Deep Ellum
I have something to say about the difference between American and European cities... but I forgot what it is... I have it written down at home somewhere.
- True Stories
Just because you attribute a characteristic to a thing or a place, it doesn't make it so. The sign above Oki Dog saying that it is "World Famous" doesn't elevate it from the relatively obscure infamy it knows in Los Angeles. Calling a sheep's tail a leg doesn't make it a leg. Merely proclaiming the "Mission Accomplished" doesn't mean it has been.
Proclaiming that the United States is the land of the free doesn't keep Americans' personal liberties from slowly fading away, snatched by the government, willingly surrendered out of fear, or atrophying from neglect. On the contrary, life in the land of liberty is regulated and restricted much more than it is in Mexico, where people are permitted much more flexibility in what they do and how they do it. That doesn't necessarily make life in Mexico worry-free; in fact, it often makes life more frustrating. In the United States, people have a much greater sense of personal responsibility, instilled by history and civics classes and continually reinforced by the ever-present threat of lawsuits. In Mexico, you try to get away with whatever you can, and there's no need to feel bad about it unless you get caught. It's not really very noble.
Yet at times, the concept of personal responsibility gets pushed too far in the United States. Whenever I return here after being in Mexico, I am always surprised by how unnecessarily nasty people can be toward others. Shawn always cites the example of a business that he went to in Los Angeles once when we lived there that had a sign on the wall over their cash register that said:
WE DON'T PLAY THE CHECKING GAME! CASH ONLY!
"Checking game?" Why not just say, "sorry, no checks?" Why the need to make out like anyone wanting to pay by check is playing some shady con game? In the above sign, isn't it enough just to say "NO PUBLIC RESTROOMS?" Does it really need to admonish people with the whole, "You pee, you pay!" bit? And why is it such a big deal to let people use the bathroom?
I have heard the rationale that homeless people come in and use the facilities for more than just emptying their bladders (shaving, washing up, etc.). Obviously, that gives a bathroom a rather sketchy feel, but maybe if business owners were a little more upset about the fact that such people are homeless in the first place, it might be a little more productive. Yet in the United States, it seems the modus operandi is to criminalize the poor.
Sign on Club, Deep Ellum
In the above sign, they tell customers not to allow people to wash their windows for change. Why not? Is it really such a problem to have someone ask you if they can wash your windows for change? If you don't want you windows washed or you think it's not worth the spare change, tell them no. The sign also indicates that in Deep Ellum (and perhaps all of Dallas? All of Texas?), it's illegal to ask people for money. This offends Shawn greatly, as he thinks this is an unconstitutional denial of free speech. I tend to agree, but furthermore, I don't understand why it's illegal to ask anyone for anything. The government insists on it's share of my cash in the form of taxes and they don't even ask. They threaten me with legal action like seizing my assets or sending me to prison if I don't pay up. Those same people are going to turn around and make it illegal for other people to ask me politely if I will give them some money?
Help us help you to be safe and sound in Deep Ellum.
Why is more sound for people to urinate on the street or behind a tree in a park instead of doing it in a receptacle actually designed for the elimination of urine? How do people asking me for spare change threaten my safety?
I grant you, I've run into some aggressive panhandlers that won't take no for an answer and some have said that cash I've donated to them isn't enough. That sucks. People that believe that is wrong are correct to feel that way; anyone asking you for money should be appreciative of any help you give them. However, I don't understand why this rudeness gets American citizens so upset while the rudeness of "you pee, you pay!" doesn't seem to bother them.
In Mexico, you don't tend to see signs like that. Instead of restricting freedoms and criminalizing the poor, they take the free market approach. Instead they will often make it so that you can only get into the bathroom by paying something like MXN $3 (a little less than USD $0.30). This pays for the overhead: toilet paper, paper towels and regular maintenance. People that don't have the cash don't get in, but at least they're not being treated like scofflaws just because they have the unfortunate luck of being simultaneously poor and in need of a bathroom.
Posted by crispy at April 8, 2007 09:12 AM
Comments
My personal favorite: "We DON'T call 911"
[crispy says: Whoa. Seriously?]
Posted by: Jon at April 10, 2007 04:26 PM