Baja Bernie
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Location: Sunset Beach
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Spanish
I woke early this morning and knowing that the newspaper would not be at my porch I pulled this book down to read and came across this story. A story
I felt that I needed to share with my friends. I know that this is possibly a wrong thing to do but I am sure that the author, Ray Gonzalez, would
understand. I came across his book purely by mistake when I was researching a story about John Wayne in Baja. The book is titled ?The Ghost of John
Wayne and other stories.? What a wonderful mistake this turned out to be for me because it allowed me to share a single, but most important, story
with you.
Spanish
Manny was punished for speaking Spanish in school. Sister Lucia made him stand in the corner, a dunce cap on his head, his throbbing knuckles stuffed
inside his pants pockets, the searing pain from Sister Lucia?s ruler radiating slowly down his hands. She caught him saying ?Deme el lonchi.? Give
me the sandwich. Manny had been sitting in the cafeteria with his cousin Joe, who had grabbed Manny?s lunch when they sat down. The boys on the long
table got quiet when Sister Lucia stood behind the petrified Manny. She had picked up the sound of the Spanish words, though she did not know what
they meant. The nun towered over the boys. None of them dared swallow the food in their mouths. Others were caught in mid-bite and would not remove
their lips from the sandwiches they held in their hands. They waited for Sister Lucia to strike. She grabbed Manny by the neck and pulled him out of
the chair. He spilled his carton of milk as she dragged him away, the white liquid spreading as the frozen boys let it cross the table and surround
their trays. No one moved until Sister Lucia and Manny had disappeared around the corner. Then everyone jumped to escape the milk. The sister took
him to the empty classroom, where she commanded him to hold his hands straight out in front of him. She whacked him hard on the knuckles with a ruler
several times, Manny refusing to cry aloud as tears streamed down his face. ?English only! English only!? Sister Lucia screamed at Manny. ?In
school you speak English! Do you understand?? When Manny nodded, she hit him one last time and pushed him to the corner. He stood there as she
placed the yellow dunce cap on his head and pushed his nose where the two walls met. Manny could smell old chalk dust in the confined space and tried
to stop crying. In a few minutes he heard his classmates return from lunch. A few giggles and smirks greeted his back. A couple of the boys
whispered, ?Manny. Turn around.? If he did, he would suffer another beating. Manny stood there with his nose against the cold plaster of the wall.
He listened as Sister Lucia started the math lesson. The fourth-graders were working on their subtraction tables, and the nun had each student stand
and recite the numbers. If you gave a wrong answer after subtracting the ones she gave you, you stayed after school to write the corrections several
times on the board. Manny listened as no one gave wrong answers. The he heard the first numbers in Spanish. ?Dos.? ?Cuatro.? ?Uno.? ?Siete.?
Four different voices answered the sister in Spanish. There was an enormous silence in the room until three and then four more voices answered,
?Tres.? ?Cinco.? And on and on. The chorus of Spanish numbers made Manny turn slowly around, his red eyes and blurred vision greeting the sight of
Sister Lucia dropping her math cards on the floor. Half his classmates, the ones who had answered in Spanish, stood defiantly by their desks. The
sister?s face was redder than Manny?s eyes. She sat back in the chair behind her desk. Manny removed the dunce cap from his head, dropped it on the
floor, and walked quietly to his desk. He did not sit, but stood next to it. Sister Lucia covered her face with her hands and bowed her head down on
her desk. She sat there for a long time until Sister Delia, the head nun of the school, walked briskly into the room, The students sat down. She
comforted Sister Lucia quietly, whispered something to her, and held her by the shoulders as she led her out of the room. The class had no teacher
for almost half an hour. During that time, the students sat quietly at their desks, not a single one turning to another triumphantly. Then a nun
they had never seen before entered the room. She was short and fat, and some of the students wanted to laugh. ?My name is Sister Patricia. I?m your
new teacher. The first rule I have is no Spanish in my classroom. Does everybody understand?? Before anyone could answer, she picked up her math
book and told them the page number where she wanted them to begin.
Okay Mr. Gonzalez, I apologize for stealing your story, but it just begged to be shared. Thank you!
[Edited on 3-18-2006 by Baja Bernie]
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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Diver
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Unfortunately, this type of backwards thinking probably still exists in some places.
My kids are lucky enough to have other kids from many places in their classrooms. They have been encouraged to learn spanish and also as much as they
can about other cultures.
They already like Baja better than home !!
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Barry A.
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I fail to understand the "moral" of this story---
The punishment handed out by the nun was sadistic and barbaric, and of course cannot be tolerated. Hard rulars can break bones.
The visible protests by the fellow students was presumably against the teacher for being so harsh for such a minor violation of the rules, and in
support of Manny.
None of this has anything to do with the "rule" that English-only was to be spoken at that school, that I can see.
The true measure of a successful society is that it's citizens obey the rules-----the "rule of law" must prevail. If the majority of the citizens
don't like the rules, then they should take legal means to get them changed.
Communication is hard enough without mucking it up with various languages that all don't understand. I have no idea what Pompano was saying above in
Dutch (German??), so I have no idea what his meaning was, and therefore I just dismiss it-----no "communication" there. My wife and I speak the same
language, but we sometimes have difficulty understanding what the other actually "means" when we speak on serious subjects.
I have always been hugely in favor of being multi-lingual, and I believe that certain languages should be taught in school starting as early as
possible. However, I totally agree that one language, and only one language, should be used
in Education, Business, and daily citizen interaction. In this country, the United States, that language is English, and all citizens that reside here
should speak that language if they expect to be able to succeed here. It is a simple as that, in my opinion. Without being able to communicate, very
little gets done.
This is all just my opinion, of course.
So now, what was the "Moral" of Bernie's story?
Barry
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Baja Bernie
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Pompano
I thought the message was very important---but I'm blown away by your ability to swear in "Ogalala." (I have trouble just writing the English
language--just ask the Bajarunner)
I thought Gonzalez did a wonderful job in getting the message across.
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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Pompano
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I decided to edit my post. Not Baja.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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Baja Bernie
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Barry A
I have drawn my own conclusions as to what the 'moral' of the story is--but I will let the rest of you draw your own.
I agree that English should be the only (basic) language 'taught' in schools in America,just as Spanish is the only one 'taught' in many other
coutnry's where Spanish is the primary language.
I do believe that it is rather foolish to punish the speaking of any language in a public or private place.
One language 'taught' for all of the reasons you put forth--sure!
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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Barry A.
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Bernie----
I totally agree with you. so maybe I DO get the 'moral'??
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Baja Bernie
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Pompano
I feel like I have had my knuckles cracked.
So I guess I should delet my response to you--but darn--I just don't believe that is the way to communicate--in Baja or anywhere.
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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thebajarunner
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Since Bernie has taken my name in vain......
Yep, I have recently had the rare and intriguing opportunity to "pre-read" his new book, chapter by chapter.
Then I go through, mark up my comments on spelling, punctuation, and grammatical sense. (not sure what that sentence really means)
Anyway, Bernie has that rare ability to spell the same word three different ways in just one paragraph.
And, paragraphs that seem to make no sense, whatsoever, on second reading are not only logical but rather charming as well.
Ah Bernie, did you ever think that anyone would refer to your work as "charming?"
I thought not.
Write on , brother!!
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Baja Bernie
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'Runner'
Charming! Sure, and I walk around with a book on my head!
I always hope that some of those words will sink in, but alas, were that to happen where you find your fun.
You should have been a school teacher. The way you can mark up a perfectly good story is most---unsettling.
I take exception to your comment on my spelling--I am most consistant in spelling those words wrong. I do admit to spelling them, differently, wrong
each time. (is that possible)
Just kidding, I think!
Thanks for all of your help. Why don't you tell the folks that you have written a chapter in my new book covering the beginning of 'dust in
Baja'--
[Edited on 3-21-2006 by Baja Bernie]
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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thebajarunner
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Consistant (sic) in your speling (sic)
Ah Bernie, yes, it has been fun pre-reading your book.
(I coined that phrase from our Baja racing strategy called pre-running)
Your sentence complaining about spelling only had one word incorrectly spelled- see above.
For you, that is pretty good, actually.
And yeah, it is a good read, not sure how much I added to the flavor, but maybe, just maybe, I helped the flow a bit.
No, I was not a "schoolteacher" although I did teach at our local Cal State University for three years, nothing to do with grammar, however.
I think I will start a new thread and talk a bit about the book, nothing to give away, just so folks will get a chance to have a "heads-up" that it is
well on its way.
Thanks for the fun!
tbr
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Baja Bernie
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Runner
Come on! Give me a break all of those words--'spelling' are/were/will be -- are consistently spelled exactly the same and all of them have (2) ll's.
I did throw in an 'a' and removed an 'e' just so you could find something wrong/perhaps. I guess I was just trying far to hard to be charming.
And, no, I did not edit the post.
I really do appreciate all of your help and I never dreamed that you would be so forthcoming when I first approached you about writing a chapter in
the new book Hey look at it this way, I can now spell Otro "Lada" now.
Enough, it has truly been fun! I do hope to meet you in person one day-- or perhaps one deep, dark night, in an alley somewhere.
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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