Feliz ignorance

If I'm convinced of anything it is this: Life would be so much easier if I were more ignorant. Case in point:

(First, you may find it helpful to review this post from a year ago, as what follows is another in what's becoming a series.)

Friday morning the staff in the office received an email to rouse excitement for a celebratory event being held that afternoon. Here is the text of the message exactly as it appeared:

Viva Cinco de Mayo!
To all the soñoritas and señores
Join us in the lounge
Today at 2:30pm
For some CHEESY NACHOS!


Astute readers already know that my reaction was not Oh boy! Free food! (and not because I hadn't even had lunch yet at that point). So let's just break down what did come to my mind, rather than the sentiment of the gesture:

The second line caught my eye first. Specifically, the egregious typo in the fourth word. It's not so much that I can't understand a slip of the finger when typing, but given how the effort to put the accented n in the word to comply with proper Spanish spelling, and given that the corresponding male term later in the sentence is spelled correctly, I guess that raised my level of expectation just a smidge. If I could notice at a glance, having never studied Spanish, it seemed like the composer of the message might have done the same.

However, the lack of proofreading is only the tip of the proverbial floating frozen body where the majority is below the surface of the water. (Wow, that's an inefficient metaphor.)

Let's consider what the event is ostensibly honoring: The Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5 (145 years ago). (Yes, I can do two minutes worth of research.) About Mexico. That country to the south of the U.S.

It's not about the day that comes after May 4.

So, even with the little Spanish I know, I can translate that opening line as "Live 5th of May!" I am pretty sure that wouldn't make any more sense even if I hailed from south of the border. But it's the thought that... oh come on. That implies thought went into the amalgamation of terms in the line, and it makes me feel better to believe that wasn't the case.

Even conceding that the intent was, in fact, to honor Mexico, let's pause and contemplate the origin of the dish being offered. At least according to the story (which may or may not be true but which is Wiki-true), nachos were invented in Texas (long after it ceased to be part of Mexico). But as their creator was someone from Mexico, it does seem vaguely appropriate that they be used in this context. Eh, both the man who led the Mexican forces 145 years ago and the man who created chips covered in cheese and jalapenos (64 years ago) shared the same first name (Ignacio), so perhaps the homage is to that.

My last thought was not associated with other languages or history but with word choice for the portion in English. As regards the last line, cheese is an integral part of nachos, so it seems like touting "cheesy" nachos is, if not utterly redundant, piling the hard sell on thick. And it proved to be leaving out all the other toppings that they were actually offering. [I suppose that was probably trying to make up for the picture inserted into the email: a plate of plain tortilla chips with the words "cheese goes here" and an arrow pointing to the chips. I suppose there's no images of nachos to be found on the internet.]

Anyway, that is what preceded Oh boy! Free food! in my head (unlike, I presume, everyone else in the office when they read it).

Enhancing my cultural awareness proved to detract from my ability to just enjoy others' half-assed efforts to display cultural awareness.

I have to believe that ignorance would be closer to blissful here. For me, however, it is too late.

And now I've probably screwed it up for you. Sorry about that. Forget I said anything.