AverageAmericanGuy: "Working like a Mexican" is a huge testament to the work ethic of Mexicans. Getting past the stereotypes is a huge step, which Target seems to be doing a piss poor job at.


I spent a day at Disneyland's new California Adventure and was surprised at how many cars with Mexican plates were in the parking garage. These weren't the beater Toyota Hiluxes I was used to. I'm talking just normal cars from Corollas through Lexuses. Just a normal variation of cars, but having Mexican plates.

Then heading into the park I heard Mexican spoke all around me. I'm so used to the stereotype of the "Mexican dishwasher" and "Mexican landscaper" that I was truly taken aback when I saw normal families walking along dressed like any other park attendee.

It was so far from what I had predisposed myself to thinking. These people were just like us! After years of living in the U.S., I never would have thought that a visit to Disneyland would change everything I knew about Mexicans. These were families with kids, just like mine, who traveled across the border, like I did, to enjoy the sites and culture of the country across the way.

I sat down and wept into my hands. The experience was overwhelming. Who was I to judge these people? Are they not my guests in this country? They come not to take my job or to siphon money back to their families, but to just spend a day here and enjoy what we had to offer in the very same way that I've spent a day in Canada enjoying their country.

It gave me a new respect for these people. I vowed on that day that I would never look at a Mexican as a usurper of American jobs and services but as a fellow human being who in different circumstances could have been my neighbor. Indeed, in a deep and profound way he is my neighbor.