Happy Cinco de Mayo, Maybe

Yesterday was May 5th, or to some it was Cinco de Mayo. I thought it was funny when I asked my father-in-law what he was going to do for Cinco de Mayo and he asked, "What's that?" When I told him he replied with something of a sneer. My mother-in-law and father-in-law like to go out to eat a lot. I thought they would be game for a special at a Mexican restaurant on Cinco de Mayo. But, my father-in-law was not interested. Later that day I talked to my father on the phone. When I wished my father a happy Cinco de Mayo he just sneered. In the afternoon I watched a lecture by Wade Clark Roof on TV. He was talking about Generation X’s relationship with religion. Part of his lecture focused on pointing out the differences between Gen-X and the Baby Boomers. There are definitely differences between the generations. Something as trivial as an attitude toward Cinco de Mayo made this evident to me. Honestly, I could care less about the significance of Cinco de Mayo. To me and my friends who are Gen-Xers, Cinco de Mayo is a day to act a little silly by actually pretending like you care that it is Cinco de Mayo and to say something in a foreign language that we only know a few words of. Most importantly it’s a day to eat some Mexican-style food. A friend of mine told me how to make taquitos. I made them for the first time yesterday. My wife and I had fun eating them. The phrase, "South of the Border", always makes me think of getting a little crazy and having some fun. Baby Boomers (at least the ones I know best), on the other hand, seem to have negative feelings about Mexico. This negativity seems to prevent them from even allowing themselves to enjoy a dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It makes me wonder what meme exists within their generation to create these feelings. Many Boomers are bitter over Mexican immigration. I suppose that could have something to do with it. While something different does need to be done about immigration I didn’t let it stand in the way of me having a good time.

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