BajaNomad - Conversations on the road: 1, Mama Espinosa waitress

Conversations on the road: 1, Mama Espinosa waitress

Whale-ista - 1-28-2014 at 12:48 PM

Me: (entering restaurant) Buenas tardes! May I sit anywhere?
Mama Espinosa waitress: Si Senora, how many are with you?
Me: I'm alone today, thank you.
Waitress: Alone? Where is your husband?
Me: No husband, just me. May I sit here please? (I sit down)
Waitress: (hands me a menu) Where are your children?
Me: (slight pause, then looking surprised) Oh my gosh- I forgot to have children!
Waitress: crickets...

DavidE - 1-28-2014 at 01:01 PM

Don't feel bad I am of course not your gender but am asked that question all the time. Then Pilár and Dália come roaring through the door and la masera runs for cover. Women traveling alone generate intense curiosity with Mexican women. Even on the transpeninsula highway which has a lot more solitary women traveling it than highways on the mainland, take a gander sometime and count how many lone women you see driving outside of urban areas. The ratio will raise your eyebrows. A hundred to one? Two hundred to one? it's pretty disproportionate.

When a really nosy female hotel clerk asks me "Where is your wife" I respond with
"Down in the arroyo washing clothes with the other women"
Talk about instant silence...

TMW - 1-28-2014 at 01:27 PM

Wow sounds like neither of you care to converse with the restaurant or hotel staff. Maybe they are nosey or maybe they are just being polite and starting a dialog. Me I like talking to them regardless of what is asked. I personally don't look down at such questions but regard it as a starter for a more enjoyable conversation.

dtbushpilot - 1-28-2014 at 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TW
Wow sounds like neither of you care to converse with the restaurant or hotel staff. Maybe they are nosey or maybe they are just being polite and starting a dialog. Me I like talking to them regardless of what is asked. I personally don't look down at such questions but regard it as a starter for a more enjoyable conversation.

TW x2

Whale-ista - 1-28-2014 at 01:59 PM

To be clear: the post ended there, but the conversation continued during the meal. She soon realized my comment regarding children was a joke. It was levity, not a putdown.

I also told her I was a teacher and we talked about her being a student.

DavidE - 1-28-2014 at 03:19 PM

You guys take these things too seriously. After the "silence" the clerk broke out laughing then took me behind the desk to meet her husband in the living quarters.

EnsenadaDr - 1-28-2014 at 06:38 PM

Geez...do all women need to be married in Mexico?

Quote:

Originally posted by soulpatch

Quote:

Originally posted by DavidE
When a really nosy female hotel clerk asks me "Where is your wife" I respond with
"Down in the arroyo washing clothes with the other women"
Talk about instant silence...

Why didn't you say it was date night with Sancho? :light:

I'd pay to see that reaction. :lol:

DavidE - 1-29-2014 at 04:31 PM

Mala Mujer syndrome Doctora, Mala Mujer syndrome. Novelas, the training manual of how to be the ?????? feminina.....

Latin countries, the land of equal gender rights for all men

When was the last time I addressed a female Dr. in the USA "Miz Doctor?"

Shawndy - 1-29-2014 at 04:45 PM

I thought that remark about the kids was funny....carry on

EnsenadaDr - 1-29-2014 at 05:30 PM

I think that is every woman's dream, she could forget to have children. The ultimate birth control.

[Edited on 1-30-2014 by EnsenadaDr]

CP - 1-29-2014 at 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by EnsenadaDr
I think that is every woman's dream, she could forget to have children. The ultimate birth control.

Gosh ED,
Sorry to read that you think that this is every women's dream. I am so blown away by your comment. Even if it is meant as something....humorous.
:?:

[Edited on 1-30-2014 by CP]

Marc - 1-29-2014 at 07:17 PM

I know a FemiN-zi who is REALLY peeED THAT IT'S WOMEN WHO HAVE TO HAVE THE CHILDREN! Not kidding. Have not seen her for a while since she started law school. She majored in "womens studies" in college. You know...shopping and cooking.... I thought she was going to kill me. :lol:

alacran - 1-29-2014 at 07:33 PM

Very nice that you talked to the help (owner) it helps all the time.
Muy bonito que le hablo a la mesera(dueña) siempre ayuda mutcho.

(gringo that first spoke spanish and then learned english)

MitchMan - 1-31-2014 at 11:00 AM

I once actually heard William F. Buckley, Jr. say, on his show "Firing Line" that it was women's obligation/duty and responsibility to have children.

Variations on the "forgot children" theme

Whale-ista - 1-31-2014 at 04:01 PM

Years ago at the same restaurant, I had a similar conversation with a different waitress. That time I was traveling with my husband, and after chatting a bit she asked us "how many children do you have?" not "do you have children?"

For some reason I found this assumption of many kids funny. We are a "blended family" when it comes to kids, but that day we were on our own. So I gave him a smile, then slapped my forehead and replied "se me olvido los ninos!" (I have forgotten the children!).

Hubbie laughed, our waitress looked a bit shocked, then she joined in, but probably thought we were completely crazy.

BajaBlanca - 1-31-2014 at 04:20 PM

I forgot to have children is a VERY funny line! But I don't think they are being rude when they ask, in Mexico familias are big and it is a social event to eat out. Their sense of private is radically opposite to NOB.

Bajahowodd - 1-31-2014 at 06:03 PM

Maybe a tad off topic, but given that restaurant's iconic status over a half century, I continue to be amazed at the lack of English among their staff. I've been to restaurants and stores off the beaten path where English was used. Geez. Americans have been stopping in since they opened.

That said, I do speak semi-fluent Spanish, but often have travel companions who do not.