Insensitivity
Even though I haven’t lived in Costa Rica for many years, nor was I actually born here, it bothers me to no end to hear foreigners criticize the country and los ticos. The other evening, a Venezuelan neighbor was telling me how awful it was living here; the roads are terrible, people get assaulted, and our apartment guard, being like all other Ticos, is a coward. Hold it, mister. You obviously don’t want to live in your country right now, so we all know no country is perfect. If you want better roads, you shouldn’t be living in a rural area that has no paved roads, go live in San José (and complain about the traffic there). People get assaulted everywhere so be vigilant. And Ticos are not cowards, they’re pacifists, they avoid conflicts, there’s a difference there. Nicas also say Ticos are cowards, but is so-called-bravery years and years of civil war? The US neighbor also complains; the cost of living is high and the repairman never comes. If you had done your research before coming here, ma’am, you’d know that the cost of living is the highest in Central America, especially in a beach town. You should have lived in a small town up in the mountains. And the repairman never comes because you don’t call him every day so he thinks it’s not urgent. And if the reason you don’t call is because you don’t speak Spanish, then you can’t be too demanding. Another North American, a realtor (because everyone’s a realtor here) commented on how she just doesn’t understand why Ticos lie. If they don’t know something, they’ll tell you something anyway, even if it’s incorrect, instead of saying, I don’t know. Please don’t call Ticos pathological liars. Ticos in general want to please people and if a client wants to know, say, the price of this rope, and the price of this rope is not listed, the vendor will quote you a random number, giving you what you wanted: a price. Saying she didn’t know would mean not satisfying the customer and that would be wrong. If someone asks for directions and you say you don’t know where that place is, the poor lost person will be disappointed. That’s wrong if your goal is making him happy now. So you give him directions, he’ll be happy now, and later, when he doesn’t reach the destination, he can always ask someone else. As many polite Ticos will tell you, Estamos para servirle, We want to please you.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009