Dateline July-August 2009
NP was dusty, hot and very quiet. End of Report…perhaps. But during my visit I sensed a disturbance in the force. Ominous shivering, innocent to the untrained eye, but subtly relevant to one of finer tuned sensibilities and experience. The same unhurried, yet scurrying commercialism…The live and let live attitudes, yielding so mystically, or is it mysteriously?..to a numinous singularity of consciousness, that like so much in Mexico can perhaps be held in the palm of the mind, but only so slightly grasped.
Homeland Security was busy as it seems with what even the most backwater constable, Hillbilly Deputy, big city, or small town donut muncher with a badge is doing. This is saving us all from the wrath of the Saracen Terrorist and his home grown equivalent (who is in the process of being defined). A truly arduous task, demanding inventiveness of genius level. I must give them a P for persistence.The way to keep us all safe is by making life less private and more of hassle for everyone. That way there is no profiling!
There were three girls and a Mother, all as obviously American as too many French Fries with a clown burger meal, and one had left her passport in the car. She had stepped through the turnstile and was a long way from the middle of the bridge. You guessed it. Had to go back through customs etc. I just kept on walking. The Mexican Military had mostly new guys. Some of them were talking to civilians. It’s got to be boring standing in the sun all day looking at a bunch of clueless tourists passing by.
From my sources I heard they were hard core infantry up from the south. They could have come from the Guatamelan border where robbing and raping Central Amercan wetbacks on the Rio Lodo was the order of the day. It’s one of those stories you don’t hear too much of for various and sundry reasons.
I’ve been going on and on for a nothing report. The main flash here is that the Mexican Army is not only checking vehicles entering Mexico, but also just recently started on North Bound traffic. I saw a sign from the NP Chamber of Commerce apologizing for the hassle. But that it was a joint effort of the Mexican and American Governments and it was all for our own good to keep us safe from drugs. Time for some simple math. Us checks going and coming. Mexico checks coming and going. That’s four searches right there. After all that people are ready for some drugs. Could be counter productive.
Keep safe and don’t let me worry you, but take precautions.
Logging off
Edgardo
I wrote a similar article regarding this subject but your is better.