Jan 24, Campeche
I received the following anonymous comment via email. It was not entered as a comment for all to see:
"I wonder - do you ever think what it's like for the rest of the people who have to drive the same roads? A caravan of 2 giant RV homes is an obstacle on a two lane road. A danger.
If you ever get cursed while dominating the road so that you and one other person can drag every thing you might want around the continent, maybe you'll get a clue as to why.
Extreme selfishness with a smile is still what it is."
My reply to this comment is as follows:
Dear Anonymous,
I could laugh at this comment and say something like, "It is obvious that you have never seen the way that the Mexicans drive if you think our RVs are a danger on the roads!". But I don't want to make light of this comment.
I really don't believe that you understand how we travel. We are all very cognizant of the potential for 19 RVs to disrupt traffic. However, we maintain enough separation to allow for easy passing. We also ride with perhaps half or more of the RV on the shoulder of the road where it is wide enough. Mexicans make three lanes out of a two-lane highway when they want to pass. Whether on a hill or curve, they don't seem to care. Any oncoming traffic will simply move to the shoulder and a passing lane is "created". The first time this is seen can be a little unsettling but after a while you get used to it. That is why we spend a lot of time riding on the shoulder.
I don't believe that we are "dominating the road" at all. Nor have I been "cursed while dominating the road" (at least not that I am aware of). On the contrary, the Mexican people are extremely polite and seem to be genuinely happy to see us. I have yet to see any of them looking at me with anything other than a smile on their face. They not only want us to come down here, they really need us to come down here. I very much doubt that the Mexicans would accuse us of "extreme selfishness".
You may not know this, but the Mexican economy depends heavily upon tourism, primarily Canadians and Americans, and the Mexican economy is currently suffering badly due to the drastic reduction in tourism caused by the over-hyped stories of violence in the US media. Yes, there has been violence, but there is probably just as much in the US. If two people are murdered in Phoenix while you are there would you immediately pack up and get out of town! No, you probably would not give it a second thought. Other than the novice bandits' unsuccessful attempt to shake us down, there has been nothing to suggest that there is any danger here for tourists. They are so happy for us to come and spend our money that they actually seem to look out for us. [NOTE: I would later change my mind about the "over-hyped" stories of violence. We were unaware at the time, but it was extremely dangerous to drive where we did in Mexico.]
I welcome comments and I encourage you to post them for all to see. Otherwise, I will simply include them in my posts and draw even greater attention to them. Thank you for your input.
I received the following anonymous comment via email. It was not entered as a comment for all to see:
"I wonder - do you ever think what it's like for the rest of the people who have to drive the same roads? A caravan of 2 giant RV homes is an obstacle on a two lane road. A danger.
If you ever get cursed while dominating the road so that you and one other person can drag every thing you might want around the continent, maybe you'll get a clue as to why.
Extreme selfishness with a smile is still what it is."
My reply to this comment is as follows:
Dear Anonymous,
I could laugh at this comment and say something like, "It is obvious that you have never seen the way that the Mexicans drive if you think our RVs are a danger on the roads!". But I don't want to make light of this comment.
I really don't believe that you understand how we travel. We are all very cognizant of the potential for 19 RVs to disrupt traffic. However, we maintain enough separation to allow for easy passing. We also ride with perhaps half or more of the RV on the shoulder of the road where it is wide enough. Mexicans make three lanes out of a two-lane highway when they want to pass. Whether on a hill or curve, they don't seem to care. Any oncoming traffic will simply move to the shoulder and a passing lane is "created". The first time this is seen can be a little unsettling but after a while you get used to it. That is why we spend a lot of time riding on the shoulder.
I don't believe that we are "dominating the road" at all. Nor have I been "cursed while dominating the road" (at least not that I am aware of). On the contrary, the Mexican people are extremely polite and seem to be genuinely happy to see us. I have yet to see any of them looking at me with anything other than a smile on their face. They not only want us to come down here, they really need us to come down here. I very much doubt that the Mexicans would accuse us of "extreme selfishness".
You may not know this, but the Mexican economy depends heavily upon tourism, primarily Canadians and Americans, and the Mexican economy is currently suffering badly due to the drastic reduction in tourism caused by the over-hyped stories of violence in the US media. Yes, there has been violence, but there is probably just as much in the US. If two people are murdered in Phoenix while you are there would you immediately pack up and get out of town! No, you probably would not give it a second thought. Other than the novice bandits' unsuccessful attempt to shake us down, there has been nothing to suggest that there is any danger here for tourists. They are so happy for us to come and spend our money that they actually seem to look out for us. [NOTE: I would later change my mind about the "over-hyped" stories of violence. We were unaware at the time, but it was extremely dangerous to drive where we did in Mexico.]
I welcome comments and I encourage you to post them for all to see. Otherwise, I will simply include them in my posts and draw even greater attention to them. Thank you for your input.
2 comments :
Comment on your mention of uploading pictures. Use a photo program to resize all pictures to less that 100k before attempting a blog post. This will help a lot. If you have a PC, tell me whether it is WinXP or Win7 and I'll direct you to a free fast easy to use picture resizer. This is my Blog http://khmexico10.blogspot.com/
Thanks, John. I use a Mac and an app called ResizeIt! My problem was not making them small enough (I think). I'll try again with smaller files.
Post a Comment