It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just my luck to have been raised in a family where appearance might not have been paramount, but it was nevertheless w-a-y ahead of whatever was in second place.<\/p>\n
My mother, the late Marie Trujillo, would have been scandalized had we little Trujillos done anything to bring dishonor to the family. A devout Catholic, Mom probably added a couple of beads to the rosary she carried, something that ponders, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Que dira la gente?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
To Mom, who passed away in 2002, her constant concern was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153what people might say.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It was a breach of etiquette to leave the house with my shirt half tucked in, half sticking out. The first time I heard the word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153shayote,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I almost took it as an as-yet-undisclosed given name. Seeing me heading for school, she occasionally uttered and muttered, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There goes shayote.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Let me explain that it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t until I reached the age of majority that I discovered the meaning of shayote. True, in Mom\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world it meant \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sloppy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m touched that my mother probably dedicated the word just to me. Actually, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a squash that, well, looks like an adolescent boy with a sloppy shirt.<\/p>\n
When at Highlands, I was surprised to hear two students, Lily (Jay) Martinez and Linda Lopez, both with Wagon Mound connections, describing themselves as sometimes shayote. My mother was raised in the Wagon Mound area, which makes me wonder whether that term is a regionalism. Another word, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tarugo,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which means \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wedge,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but often describes people, also comes from Wagon Mound. Could the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcMounders have invented their own language? It seems likely, given the number of strange nicknames of school kids there. But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a topic for another column.<\/p>\n
I mentioned this once before and even drew a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no way!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d response from a reader. But it did happen. Anyone who grew up in the Railroad Avenue barrio in the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc40s and \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc50s realizes how close-knit neighbors must have been. In short, no wireless, WiFi connection today could ever transmit news with the rapidity of the tell-a-neighbor communication of old.<\/p>\n
Therefore, if Arthur got slapped at school \u00e2\u20ac\u201d oh yes, Sister Mary Matanza did it once, actually intending to slap my seatmate, Robert, but not wanting to admit she got the wrong victim \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the entire neighborhood would immediately have learned about it.<\/p>\n
When I got home, unhurt except for my pride, naturally there was a confrontation that commenced with, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Que dira la gente?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, Mom I was really innocent. The teacher was aiming for Robert, but I was in the way.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I would have had better luck teaching my grandma to suck eggs, as Burl Ives said in a movie.<\/p>\n
The punishment came, merciless and quick. As luck would have it, the elementary grades at Immaculate Conception School combined two classes. My ally, my sister Bingy, would vouch for me, even if my posterior had already become acquainted with the business end of Mom\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s belt<\/p>\n
Did my sister\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s testimony that I had not been misbehaving at school serve to clear the air, to convince Mom I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been punished \u00e2\u20ac\u201d twice, wrongly? No. Mom\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s justification was simply that I could have been misbehaving and that nobody would have been surprised.<\/p>\n
Fine! In a case of poor aim, my homeroom teacher slaps me, in a way that elicited a grin from Robert, my seatmate, who had been the original target, inasmuch as Sister had swatted him several times before. Well, we tend to forget these injustices as we age. In fact, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d forgotten all about it, until I was browsing the vegetable section at Lowe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and noticed a shriveled shayote that brought back memories.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
Que dira la gente? What would Mom have thought if she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d read the paper or watched the news in 2011?<\/p>\n
First, we learn of a couple of CYFD workers reprimanded for having taken a photo of themselves flashing a gang sign and pointing a gun at the other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head. When the photo went viral on the Internet \u00e2\u20ac\u201d as they invariably do \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the women claimed they were simply trying to show their clients \u00e2\u20ac\u0153how stupid it is to behave that way.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Ostensibly, the workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 reason was to try to deter kids from falling into crime. Well, I remember reading a treatise by a 12th century writer, Andreas Capellanus, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Art of Courtly Love,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that provides a fairly specific training manual on how to score. But the piece concludes with Andreas explaining that all the detailed information is merely to list what one should avoid. Yes, quite convincing.<\/p>\n
In Santa Fe this week, a substitute teacher was fired after reportedly being found passed out. And in Belen last week, a regular teacher got suspended for allegedly teaching while intoxicated. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all familiar with the anagrams DWI and DUI; now there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s TWI for teachers.<\/p>\n
And amigos, if you travel through Arizona, especially in light of the new legislation that really threatens immigrants, try not to get stopped and charged with DWH.<\/p>\n
In Hobbs, three mothers got jailed for virtually choreographing playground fights for their daughters, allegedly pushing aside those who tried to break up the tussles. The fights were captured on video.<\/p>\n
Finally, under the rubric of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153QDLG,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d my Mom\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pre-occupation, I think she would have been shocked to discover that in last Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Jail Log in the Optic, of the 21 names listed, 11 belong to females. And these aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t petty issues, like speeding or failure to appear. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking assaults and battery.<\/p>\n
What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll the people say?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
New Mexico lost one of the most dedicated coaches and public officials we can find. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m deeply saddened by the sudden death of Henry Sanchez, a mainstay of the morning breakfast club that gathered at the Hillcrest. His close circle of friends \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Marty, Jesse, James, Perry, Leo, Ernie, Rudy, Joe, Phil, Patrick, Connie, Willie, Bob, and others to whom I apologize if I have forgotten their names, constituted the long-standing morning coffee klatsch.<\/p>\n
I hope the group, which goes back three decades, continues to meet, even if replacing Henry will be a tough job.<\/p>\n
He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be proud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just my luck to have been raised in a family where appearance might not have been paramount, but it was nevertheless w-a-y ahead of whatever was in second place. My mother, the late Marie Trujillo, would have been scandalized had we little Trujillos done anything to bring dishonor to the family. A devout Catholic, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=811"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":812,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811\/revisions\/812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}