Job Discussion Forums

[snorklequeen]

i was friends with a woman here in Houston who was from Guadalajara. she wouldn't show up half the time when she said she would and was often late; after a while i started taking a book with me and got a lot of reading done while waiting for her; she tended to make promises she didn't keep.

actually, a lot of people i know in Houston make promises they don't keep -- some have lived overseas including in Mexico and Brazil, and some have not; it seems to also be a southern hospitality kind of thing in Houston. if i give a party now and people RSVP, i figure that about half of them will actually show up, so i no longer get stuck with twice the food and drinks i need; before i learned the ropes, one time i ended up with an unused second keg of beer after a Saturday night party, so we had a second party on Sunday to watch the football game and invited everyone we knew over to try to use some of it up

i would prefer that people kindly told me the truth so i don't make plans and spend money based on incorrect information

Queenie

[TheLongWayHome]

[M@tt]

this advice is 5 times more important if you live in DF. a round trip stand-up usually wastes one and a half hours of your time. if you're using the metro you can usually finish an entire magazine.

the only other solution for this might be a cellphone. expensive but worth it if you hate waiting for people who aren't even coming.

[snorklequeen]

is this typical in Mexico too?

with this same lady, i was with her when she promised another woman friend she would pick her up at the same time the next day that she was going to give me a ride to the doctor [she knew my car had been totalled in a wreck and i was in severe pain cuz she drove me home from the hospital after the wreck, and the bus didn't go from my house to the doctor and the taxis said they wouldn't come out as far out as i live without a return fare]

i specifically asked her about it, how it sounded like she would have to be at two places at once, and she told me no problem, she was seeing the other lady the day after she took me to the doctor. which was not what she told the other woman while i was sitting there with them. of course i didn't see her for two weeks.

this was one of the few favors i ever asked of her in 2 years because i knew how busy she was with her own business, etc. guess i'll have to get used to this in Mexico; too bad.

cheers,

Q

when you mentioned the lack of depth in friendships, Matt, and the butterfly thing, i really related and thought of her

[Samantha]

Uh...I think you have to find some new, less flakey, friends. Painting ALL Mexicans with that same brush would be the wrong thing to do. The wide circle of Mexican friends and business associates my (Mexican) husband and I have, always use the phone if they can't make it to something specific, as planned. All quite civilized.

[snorklequeen]

thanks, Samantha! it's good to know that some folks in Mexico do use their cell phones to call. i will definitely get a cell phone with a phone card or something. i was hoping that she was not typical of everyone in Mexico

we are no longer friends; two years was enough. after putting up with this for 2 years, [get this, this was hilarious!]: one Sunday she accused me of not returning her call about an event she, her sister and i were going to go to, and how inconvenient it was for her and her sister not to know where and when to find us, and how disappointed her sister was that they did not hook up with me for the event; i had called her at the time she specified earlier that day, got her answering machine, and left a voicemail message with all the information needed to meet up with us, in plenty of time if she had made the effort to check. i had also sent an email with all the same info the day before. she was notorious for not checking her voicemail messages and not checking her email; that was the last straw!

most of my friends now are pretty civilized; i am meeting a few slightly flakey people but know a lot of the warning signs and won't expect much and will just enjoy them as they are and sidestep when needed

cheers,

the Q-ster

[Gringo Greg]

Florsheim Shoes is a good place to pick up good quality large shoes in DF, but they are expensive. An every 3 or 6 month trip to Laredo(only 12 hours by bus) is the best way to load up on things you really need.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[snorklequeen]

thanks, Ben! the 50% rule holds true in Houston, too, but not the 0% rule

so, guys, how does that affect doing private lessons? how do you set it up so that you waste as little time as possible?

Q

[samizinha]

Bathtubs! I miss them on cold nights.

[M@tt]

you charge people upfront for a packet of lessons. if they don't call to cancel or reschedule within a fixed period of time before the lesson, they forfeit the money and you are not required to make up the lesson.

i can't imagine this working well in small towns where people aren't serious about much of anything, but it would probably guarantee you an easier life in the cities.

[snorklequeen]

thanks, Matt! that sounds like good advice

Queenie

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[Samantha]

I agree Tim...... The folks from small towns want their children to learn English, and I believe one could do quite well setting up a schedule of group classes in a nearby small town just on Saturdays alone. Many of my Saturday students travelled by bus for over an hour from outlying town or ranchos for English lessons. They were my most serious students as it turned out.

[M@tt]

yes, i agree too! sorry for that blatantly ridiculous statement. i'm from a small town too and get annoyed by people who think they are somehow more with-it because they come from a coastal metropolis.

i guess i was just thinking of MY small town in mexico, where people really didn't seem serious about anything! but that's just one town among thousands.