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.

No kidding

Sometimes the best way to express one's feelings is to allow a satirical letter to the editor do the talking:

If Someone Wanted To Publish My Blog Entries For Money, I Wouldn't Say No

Let me make one thing clear right off the bat: I started my blog because I needed an outlet for my thoughts and feelings during the 2004...

Photo alert

FYI: New pictures posted here. But not this one:

Drink it in

For the past seven years I have participated in a team sport that, despite being the "fastest growing water sport in the world," still draws blank stares from people I meet here in Los Angeles when I mention the name of it: dragon boating.

(Eh, what the heck: Go ahead and read the Wiki-planation of it. It's true that I don't write about it much here.)

I got in the habit of describing in this manner when it came up in conversation for the first time with someone: "It's a paddling sport called 'dragon boating'--you haven't heard of it." I didn't even wait for the puzzled look before offering the follow-up. (Every once in a while I would run into someone who had heard of it, which would be a tiny thrill, but that still proved too infrequent to cause me to change the habit.)

So you can imagine my surprise when I was getting lunch on Friday at the fine "Chinese" dining establishment Panda Express and saw what was on the medium drink cup:













The cup even had a reasonable explanation of the history of dragon boating on the back (considering the space available).






They also feature it on their website.




Now dragon boating is going to explode in popularity, and soon it will become a household word, and I'll never be met with another blank stare when I mention it.

Except for one little thing: Although it alludes to races being held around the world (which is true), no where on the cup does it mention how to celebrate the dragon boat festival--except, by implication, by eating Panda's latest menu item.

(Like the American public is going to do the legwork to find a festival near them. If you're in Southern California, the Long Beach festival is coming up on July 28-29.)

So really, Panda Express has co-opted a sport that is still virtually unknown in this country to seem culturally aware while promoting their food. It's like they're primarily interested in making a profit or something.

On behalf of dragon boaters everywhere, I feel kind of used. On the other hand, there is part of me that feels kind of validated by seeing my sport mentioned this way.

I wouldn't have this dilemma if I'd joined a bowling league.

Glib reaction of the day

I saw this story about Japanese movie theaters issuing warnings that "Babel" may cause nausea in viewers, and I thought, If it made me sick that would have been at some reaction.