Tuesday, May 11, 2004
The Mexican soul is made of lead
Since I've moved into my four-bedroom, 2000 square-foot, contemporary yet Ikealess paradise in February I've seen my commute stretch from twenty minutes to 60 each way. But that's the price I pay for desert landscaped perfection. However, driving the rural Arizona backroads has given me the opportunity to see something that the rest of the world may not: the Mexican car accident death shrine!
And what is this shrine? Well for those of you who are spiritually empty, this is a little monument either in the shape of a cross or that little archway cove that the Virgin Mary hangs out in all the time. It gets placed in the very place that some guy got himself killed off the side of the road. Etched onto it is the name of the fella that took the front bumper colonoscopy and the date of his "transition". The area around is strewn with flowers, rosaries, cupie dolls, and chorizo to commemorate the unlucky man's life.
While I'm all for the sentimental remembrance of the dearly departed as well as the marking of places where people get bitch-slapped by old Grimmy himself, I admit that I don't really see the point in this practice. The first one was sad enough, but now they're every quarter mile. Perhaps south of the border there's an equation that determines the need for additional road expansion and safety measures based on the number of Mexican memorials littering the road. Two per mile gets a side rail. Three, we add paint. At seven per mile we ask Santa Maria for guidance down another route.
Now here's where it gets a little deep. Now marking as special the places of significant events seems natural enough like the flag at Iwo Jima or where the Treaty of Versailles was signed. But these memorials are set up like some kind of resting place for the dead man's soul. If not why the hell are they there anyway? Why not just put his picture on the mantle like everyone else?
Last I checked, most people considered death to be the separating of the body and the soul. the body turns to compost, the soul learns to play the harp and plays with the soul of your childhood pet. So if the soul leaves the body, then chances are it's not hanging out at the side of northbound mile 73 on Hwy 87 for all eternity unless the Mexican soul just happens to be made of some physical element like lead or Einsteinium and doesn't leave the planet. And if the point was to mark the place of this splitting of flesh and ghost then you've fucked up again. You see the Earth is spinning around in circles, orbiting the sun, that runs along its ecliptic in a galaxy that's rotating while zinging throught the universe and so on. Sorry, but that place where Javier met his maker is no longer in the same place, hence he didn't die there, thus you're wrong and I'm happy.
Still, these little cultural icons can be quite pretty and the sentiment is a nice one, so I'll lay off for now. Plus, maybe if we get another two per mile we'll finally get those potholes filled.
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And what is this shrine? Well for those of you who are spiritually empty, this is a little monument either in the shape of a cross or that little archway cove that the Virgin Mary hangs out in all the time. It gets placed in the very place that some guy got himself killed off the side of the road. Etched onto it is the name of the fella that took the front bumper colonoscopy and the date of his "transition". The area around is strewn with flowers, rosaries, cupie dolls, and chorizo to commemorate the unlucky man's life.
While I'm all for the sentimental remembrance of the dearly departed as well as the marking of places where people get bitch-slapped by old Grimmy himself, I admit that I don't really see the point in this practice. The first one was sad enough, but now they're every quarter mile. Perhaps south of the border there's an equation that determines the need for additional road expansion and safety measures based on the number of Mexican memorials littering the road. Two per mile gets a side rail. Three, we add paint. At seven per mile we ask Santa Maria for guidance down another route.
Now here's where it gets a little deep. Now marking as special the places of significant events seems natural enough like the flag at Iwo Jima or where the Treaty of Versailles was signed. But these memorials are set up like some kind of resting place for the dead man's soul. If not why the hell are they there anyway? Why not just put his picture on the mantle like everyone else?
Last I checked, most people considered death to be the separating of the body and the soul. the body turns to compost, the soul learns to play the harp and plays with the soul of your childhood pet. So if the soul leaves the body, then chances are it's not hanging out at the side of northbound mile 73 on Hwy 87 for all eternity unless the Mexican soul just happens to be made of some physical element like lead or Einsteinium and doesn't leave the planet. And if the point was to mark the place of this splitting of flesh and ghost then you've fucked up again. You see the Earth is spinning around in circles, orbiting the sun, that runs along its ecliptic in a galaxy that's rotating while zinging throught the universe and so on. Sorry, but that place where Javier met his maker is no longer in the same place, hence he didn't die there, thus you're wrong and I'm happy.
Still, these little cultural icons can be quite pretty and the sentiment is a nice one, so I'll lay off for now. Plus, maybe if we get another two per mile we'll finally get those potholes filled.
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