Round 2 qustions...preparing for our first visit

E-raq wrote:

Parker wrote:

E-raq wrote:

ferret wrote:Considering that the word TIP is based on "To Insure Promptness", it's a miracle that anyone in Mexico gets one.
In Nayarit, we encountered others who worked only for tips and didn't get a salary...these included Pemex employees and waiters and the SENIORS who bagged your groceries at the Mega in Bucerias.
Use your common sense and tip where you feel it's appropriate and not because someone else tells you that you should.

That's neat ferret, I'd never heard it before.

At Pemex, we only tip the guys who actually wash the windshield. We usually tip baggers, unless they're the two miserable old ladies at Soriana who make snide comments about gringos and gringas ASSuming that none of us can understand. To them I have in my reserve a particularly snarky comeback.

And I hope this is done in Spanish, please.

A question Parker, do you insult people in Spanish? I do, and by the way have an extremely extensive and impressive collection of Mexican insults, most of which can only be properly appreciated in the octagon.

In Mexico, in order to appreciate the culture, one must understand that cursing somebody out is an art form. High quality insults are very often very elaborate and may be many sentences long.

Some are extremely short and effective, they are usually double entendres such as; " es un niño tremendo." This, contrary to popular belief does not mean that he's a tremendous or wonderful child, it means he's a dreadful little beggar who is capable of untold mischief done with malice aforethought.

Axixic wrote:

ferret wrote:Considering that the word TIP is based on "To Insure Promptness", it's a miracle that anyone in Mexico gets one.

This just didn't sound right to me so I checked. Snopes says it isn't true.

"Tip is an old word, and it has nothing to do with either acronyms or the act of attempting to influence quality of service. Although the word has many meanings, both as a verb and as a noun, the use of the term as it applies to monetary rewards to servants dates to the 1700s. It first appeared in this context as a verb ("Then I, Sir, tips me the Verger with half a Crown" from the 1706 George Farquhar play The Beaux Stratagem) and was first recorded as a noun in 1755. However, the use of tip to describe the act of giving something to another (where that list of possible 'somethings' could include small sums of money, intelligence on horse races, or the latest silly joke) goes back to 1610. Tip slipped into the language as underworld slang, with the verb 'to tip' (meaning 'to give to or share with') being used by shady characters as part of the then-current argot of petty criminals."

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/tip.asp

merry wrote:
The easy way to get around is to borrow a cell phone from someone - many of us have an extra that we lend out to guests - and scroll down to say "AJIJIC TAXI" or whatever you want. No having to deal with pay phones.

Trailrunner wrote:You don't let your cell phone go dead. Not many pay phones around - if any. And if you find one, it may or may not be operable.

Self sufficiency is the name of the game in this country.

Trailrunner wrote:You don't let your cell phone go dead. Not many pay phones around - if any. And if you find one, it may or may not be operable./quote]

That hasn't been my experience--I always carry a phone card and have used pay phones all over Mexico. I've never come across a broken pay phone.

ferret wrote:

Luisa wrote:

Trailrunner wrote:You don't let your cell phone go dead. Not many pay phones around - if any. And if you find one, it may or may not be operable.

That hasn't been my experience--I always carry a phone card and have used pay phones all over Mexico. I've never come across a broken pay phone.

Then either you have had extraordinary luck or Telmex is taking better care of their phones. I once had to try SIX phones in a row before I found one that worked. That prompted me to buy a cell phone...end problem.