Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller begins by welcoming listeners and setting the context for the show, which focuses on life in Latin America. He mentions that he will be traveling frequently in the coming month, which may affect the regularity of the show. He then shares a humorous anecdote about a keynote speaking event where a woman pointed out that his shirt was inside out, which he found amusing. He transitions into a discussion about North Korea's strict fashion policies, highlighting how the regime enforces modesty and punishes those who wear Western fashion trends. Johnny also comments on the decline of the 'ass-cracked pants' trend in Latin America and shares a local anecdote about a man being reprimanded for wearing them in a hotel. The episode ends with a listener email about the prevalence of electric bikes in Beijing, which Johnny acknowledges as a valid addition to the conversation.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses his experiences with e-bikes in Beijing, highlighting both their prevalence and the associated risks. He mentions the silent nature of e-bikes, their speed, and the dangers they pose, especially for delivery services. He also touches on the issue of stolen e-bike batteries. The segment then shifts to an email from Brad, who is planning a trip to Mexico and expresses interest in discussing food and cuisine. Johnny responds by sharing his thoughts on what he would do if he won the lottery, including flying first class and hiring a personal chef. He also shares a story about a friend who won the Canadian lottery but faced financial difficulties due to lending money to friends and family.
The podcast segment discusses the challenges expats face with language barriers and gringo gouging in Latin America. Johnny Mueller highlights the importance of speaking Spanish to avoid inflated prices and cultural misunderstandings. He also provides examples of common gouging practices, such as in markets, shoeshine shops, and small stores, and explains how locals often target tourists with inflated prices. The segment also touches on the gender dynamics in shoeshine services, noting that they are typically male-oriented.
Johnny Mueller discusses the phenomenon of 'gringo gouging' in Latin America, particularly in tourist areas like Antigua, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. He highlights how prices for services such as shoeshine and veterinary care are inflated for expats and tourists, often leading to unfair economic distortions. He also shares personal anecdotes, such as the experience of paying exorbitant prices at upscale vet clinics and the contrast with more affordable, local alternatives. Johnny suggests that locals may have xenophobic tendencies or have been negatively influenced by stories about 'ugly Americans,' but he also emphasizes that expats are not forced to pay these inflated prices and should consider the context of the local economy.
The segment discusses the growing presence of gringo expats in places like Cuenca, Costa Rica, and Cancun, and how this has led to tensions with local populations. Johnny Mueller notes that gringos are sometimes perceived as disrespecting local culture and increasing the cost of living for locals. He also highlights how locals may retaliate by taking advantage of gringos, such as by overcharging them for goods or services. Examples include hardware store owners exploiting the lack of alternatives and appliance repairmen charging more based on the expat's location. Johnny also touches on the cultural aspects of Latin American superstitions and religion, which can influence interactions between locals and expats.
Episode Notes
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller dives into the world of expat life in Latin America, sharing insights on fashion, cultural dynamics, and global observations. From North Korea's strict fashion policies to the decline of 'ass-cracked pants' and the rise of electric bikes in Beijing, Johnny covers a range of topics that highlight the complexities of living and traveling in different parts of the world. He also addresses listener emails and personal anecdotes about gringo gouging, language barriers, and the impact of expat communities on local economies.
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Topics
The Expat Files podcast, Life in Latin America, North Korea's fashion policies, Cultural trends in Latin America, Electric bikes in Beijing, E-bikes in Beijing, Safety concerns with e-bikes, Food and cuisine, Lottery winnings and spending, Personal anecdotes and stories, Language barriers and their impact on expat experiences, Gringo gouging and its prevalence in Latin America
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:16 Introduction to the Expat Files Podcast 00:00:54 Humorous Anecdote About a Shirt Inside Out 00:01:49 North Korea's Fashion Crackdown 00:04:32 Decline of the 'Ass-Cracked Pants' Trend 00:05:19 Listener Email About Electric Bikes in Beijing 00:05:46 Downsides of E-Bikes in Beijing 00:06:45 E-Bikes Coming to Latin America 00:07:45 Brad's Email About Mexico and Food 00:08:38 Johnny's Lottery Spending Plan 00:10:27 The Friend Who Won the Canadian Lottery 00:12:12 Gringle Prices and Expat Concerns 00:12:18 Advice on Reducing Cost of Living 00:12:42 Gringo Gouging as a Cultural Phenomenon 00:16:59 Introduction to Gringo Gouging in Tourist Areas 00:17:16 Shoeshine Boys and the Gringo Tourist Experience 00:17:39 Price Disparities and the Local Economy 00:18:42 Economic Distortions and the Gringo Tourist Trail 00:19:12 Gringo Gouging in Veterinary Services 00:20:35 Gringo Gouging in Pharmacies and the Impact on Locals 00:22:12 Xenophobia and Local Perceptions of Gringos 00:22:30 Gringo Expat Populations and Cultural Tensions 00:23:08 The Impact of Gringo Tourism on Local Communities 00:23:50 Exploitation of Gringos by Local Businesses
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now that I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat wannabes I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America the show that tells you just what it's like to live Workplay and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started All right, just a little housekeeping here I'm gonna be traveling a lot in the next month in and out of the jungles So dropping these expat file shows twice a week is gonna be a little tough So expect during the next month the shows will be spotty binning There'll be some old ones run here and there and some current ones too
[00:47] Though I hope to get at least one a week and again as opposed to the normal two We'll see just a heads up to let you know. Oh You want to hear something funny that happened to me about a week ago I was a keynote speaker the first speaker on the roster for Plan B retirement and investment conference and after I did my hour a lady came up to me and said can I ask you something? I said sure go ahead. She said did you know you have your shirt on inside out? Then she seemed a little embarrassed and said or did you plan it that way? It is a good attention grabber She said then she said for all I know the way things change She could be the latest fashion and sure enough. I looked at my shirt and the seams were on the outside Nice first impression, huh? And naturally I thought to myself what an idiot
[01:34] Though speaking of crazy fashions at least that wasn't sporting blue hair or wearing ass-cracked pants That would have been an attention grabber, too Huh, so naturally after we had that little conversation I went into the bathroom and reversed my shirt Speaking of clothes in fashion Have they heard the latest edict from North Korea's fat boy Kim young-un what a fashion plate He is huh turns out according to a radio free Asia North Korea has ramped up its crackdown on capitalist fashion Anyone caught wearing certain Western fashion trends must confess their crime and change into more acceptable clothing immediately unacceptable clothing including tight jeans dyed hair and you guessed it ass-cracked pants Probably because if Kim wore them the whole world would split a gut Anyway, according to the reports North Korea has youth league patrols ass-cracked pant patrols by any other name
[02:27] Yep, they're checking for kid and adolescent deviants cracking down on people No pun intended with dyed hair Western clothes and get this t-shirts and sweatshirts with foreign lettering on them Most specifically lettering in English that includes women who wear short skirts tight workout clothes and yoga pants Hmm, that's a shame. Ask any guy and he'll tell you yoga pants will go down in history as one of the great 21st century inventions So what happens if you're caught it says well if caught you must wait on the side of the road until patrols have finished combing The area they haul you off to the youth league office where you must confess your Western fashion crimes in writing Then it says you'll only be released if a friend or family member brings Acceptably modest clothes for you to change into if not
[03:12] They'll put you in a holding pin and make you listen to rag-a-town music until you go insane Nah, not really. I just made that part up, but it would work. It would make you crazy Anyway, then it says for a second offense the violators name home address and workplace will be revealed publicly on what's called the third broadcast Referring to a state-controlled radio station and public loudspeaker system that spreads this propaganda around the country daily Then the article says the fashion police will also report those crimes to the person's employer Then it says the North Korean Youth League fashion Police has recently scaled up its efforts on the crackdown and last month members of the organization held at nationwide educational session Defining the act of imitating foreign fashion and hairstyles as a dangerous poison for our youth. They call it decadent capitalist influence
[04:04] The question is where are all those North Korean kids buying all that stuff how they get their hands on it There's no internet shopping or Amazon. Where do you think it's all made next door in mother China? Think of those logistics Oh and get this rumor has it and this is only an unconfirmed rumor now multiple crimes such as wearing ass crack pants and listening to rag-a-town music at the same time will merit Waterboarding. Yep. It's true. Every cloud has a silver lining By the way, speaking of ass crack pants here in Latin America, you know The good news is that disgustingly vomitus fashion trend seems to have peaked around six months ago I'm seeing it less and less these days. Thank God. In fact, just the other day I was standing in front of a nice first world Hyatt Hotel and
[04:51] Three guys walked up all blinged out gigantic fake chains and all that they could have been hotel guests I don't know or maybe rotor rotor geyser dumpster technicians I don't know but the reticop at the front door, you know There's always a guy standing there looking at people coming in and out He told the guy with the ass crack pants to pull him up an embarrassing moment for the guy because I'm sure he spent quite A bit of time earlier that morning picking out the right flaming red underwear You know the saying you only get one chance to make a first impression. All right, let's take an email. This one's from Mitchell He says hey Johnny, I listened to your show about electric bikes and I thought I'd add my two cents I'm here in Beijing one of the most populated cities in the world living with e-bikes buzzing around me everywhere
[05:38] And it's been going on like that for five years Everything you said about them is absolutely true These things are a must in the city that was plagued with so much smog There are however two downsides to them as I see it first of all, they're silent and that's a bad thing Unlike cars these things are crawling all over the pedestrian walkways to sidewalks, etc. No big deal for me so far I haven't been hurt yet, but I always have to keep a sharp look out or get trampled Second problem is those contraptions keep getting faster and faster all the time This doesn't bode well for Beijing at least half of the e-bikes on the road are for delivery services, too the Chinese version of uber eats I recently found out the delivery guys have a money incentive to get there as quickly as possible and get on to the next customer
[06:24] So naturally they're gonna whip around as fast as they can a food delivery e-bike hitting a child at 30 miles an hour Gonna do some damage for sure. Oh And just another thing I'm hearing more and more comments about how there's a big market for stolen e-bike batteries Anyway, Johnny, I thought I'd give you my view on e-bikes from here in Beijing where they're everywhere Since eventually those things will be coming to Latin America in a big way I can only imagine how much worse the accident situation is gonna be South of the border when those e-bikes take over then he signs that all the best Mitch will be All right. Thanks for that Mitch Yep, you're right. It's gonna be more crazy times when those e-bikes start taking over But still I'll take a country loaded with rotten e-bike drivers over gas-powered junkheap motorcycles any day
[07:12] They'll always be rotten drivers, but combining the both rotten drivers and rotten bikes That's a big problem and that's something we haven't mentioned You know at least when those e-bikes start coming in they're all brand new it's new technology So they're all gonna be up to current first-world safety standards In other words all the lights will be working unlike the current millions of road kookarotches That are real hazards because most of them don't have a complete set of working lights Even though a replacement bulb is a buck or less. They just don't care Alright now an email from Brad. He says Johnny. I'm going to Mexico this August mainly because it's the season for chiles in Nogado I'm a former chef and I love Mexican food. Columbia food sucks ditto Panama
[07:58] By the way Johnny you never seem to talk about food or cuisine. I hope you do. I'll be listening signed Bradley Well Brad it's not that I don't talk about food I occasionally talk about food in relation to our good old friend Montezuma and his revenge But really I appreciate you mentioning the subject since you are a former chef in fact You know when us gringos have get-togethers once in a while the subject comes up What would you do if you won the lottery? It's a good question is you get interesting answers though for most people it's pretty predictable They'd buy a house or houses for their parents or kids cars boats jacuzzis and pools are the usual suspects as for me I have a different take on it. My answer is number one. I'd always fly first class Not to be elegant or a show off or to put on the dog
[08:46] But because you got so much extra space How many times have your legs got crammed or have fallen asleep on a long flight? Or you've been jammed between two super sized humans Yep, first class travel every time. That's what I do if I won the lottery and number two this you'll like Brad I would hire a personal chef. No not a living chef, but a certified well-schooled chef an educated skilled Nutrition-minded chef I'd have him get up before dawn and go to the markets and pick out the freshest most natural stuff Then pop in at the house cook breakfast make lunch and dinner stick it in the refrigerator and be gone by let's say 10 or 11 in the morning then I'd be all set up with great and healthy meals all day Why because I tell you the truth. I hate cooking so that would be my idea of extravagant living if I won the lottery
[09:37] How about you? What would be on your lottery wish list? Would you buy five Cadillacs and give them to your friends and family like Elvis? Sure, hope not. By the way a long time ago a friend of mine won the Canadian lottery over a million bucks US He's not such a good friend anymore since you ripped me off I told that story a long time ago probably eight or nine years ago I met him down in Costa Rica and I knew him for two and a half years before I ever found out He won the lottery. He just didn't tell anybody Why well he had good reason up in Canada when all his friends and family found out he had money They all nicked him. He lent money to friends and family left and right He said even people from junior high and high school who hadn't seen in 10 or 15 years would stop him in the grocery store And ask him for a loan He came from a rather small town of around 50 or 60,000 people and said everyone in his brother
[10:27] Had a hard luck sob story for him and he being a nice guy was an easy touch Then he opened a restaurant up in Canada I think it was Edmonton, but he knew nothing about restaurants though It was his dream to always have one it failed another 300 grand in the crapper So he said within three years. He was down to a quarter of what he'd want That's when he and his wife decided to get down on a Canada. They moved to Costa Rica Where no one knew him or that they'd ever won the lottery. The only person they told was their lawyer who happened to be my lawyer That's how I found out not on purpose either. He let it slip Accidentally, but I digress as usual man, did I digress? By the way, I've been getting a lot of emails from people who want to check out that stem cell clinic in the DR You know the one I took my brother to he's the stem cell poster child
[11:14] Anyway, as mentioned previously, there's an English-speaking Concierge lady that will be able to set things up for your starting July 1st. So just hang in there What's that in a month and a half? Maybe now for those of you who speak pretty good Spanish? Yeah, might not need her at all But just remember you'll need hotel accommodations close to the place, right? Because let's go back and forth there every day for the length of your treatment Which could be from three days to two weeks depending out Up you are and if you need to be detoxed from that terrible American diet Everyone seems to be addicted to and all those prescription meds. Everyone's loaded up on only remember if you don't speak Spanish There could be some difficulty communicating with the docks That's why for Spanish dances. Yep Spanish dances. Are you one of those don't laugh?
[11:59] I was one of those once for the first five years. I was down here. There's an English-speaking concierge lady Anyway, I've been getting a lot of emails on that and people are asking for updates. So there it is We'll keep you posted as we get closer to July 1st. All right Let's talk about something that gringles and expats here very concerned about gringle prices Let me start out this segment by giving a sound piece of advice Your cost of living here in Latin America will decrease dramatically the more and more Spanish, you know And if you speak Spanish pretty good The locals will be much less inclined to throw those gringle prices at you They know an astute gringo and they see one that you've been around the block At that point they know that you know what the locals pay and what kind of deals they get Alright, so gringle pricing also known as the gringo gouge or the gringo tax is a hot topic in virtually all Latin American expat communities
[12:50] And especially now since inflation is kicking in Sometimes these days it's difficult to know if it's the gringo gouge being thrown at you or just inflation Anyway, the gringo gouge is a time-honored tradition. It's a game almost a national sport, especially on the gringo tourist trail That's where the locals could see a tourist or gringo coming a mile away It's as if you got a big holographic dollar sign on your forehead You see local Latinos who make their living on or near the tourist trail have had lots of practice gouging gringos They know exactly how far they can push you and when you push back or just walk away They'll always end up coming down. Oh, and if you're one of those smarty pants gringos who thinks it won't happen to you You're thinking you're way too smart. You're a great haggler, right?
[13:37] You've had a few rummage sales. You've been on eBay. You know how to get to the bottom line Well, guess what? If you've ever been on vacation in Latin America, it's happened to you already You've been gouged probably multiple times and didn't even know it Some of the most common places to get gouged are small shops and stores where the prices aren't marked and the proprietor has an opportunity To size you up you will find however that you won't or can't be gouged in chain supermarkets or department stores Where prices are marked on everything where there's a sticker price or a barcode you won't get gouged everyone pays the same Obviously the same thing goes for transnational fast food joints like McDonald's or Taco Bell or Kentucky Fried Now one of the places gringle pricing is oh so common is at those big fruit and vegetable markets The Mercado's most things aren't marked. There's no stickers another curious manifestation of gringle pricing is the way prices seem to
[14:33] They're quoted a second time. In other words, you walk into a shop and you get quoted a price You come back a couple days later. Say you want to buy a modem or a computer No, not a moto the Latin slang for motorcycle I'm talking about a modem all of a sudden. It's 35 bucks when a couple days ago It was only 25 that's happened to me a couple times too. You see that once in a while in car repair and mechanic shops Now a sort of small-time, but very prevalent example of this is with shoeshine boys for example, if you're in Guatemala, you'll see him everywhere big city small cities even way out in one horse towns in the boonies and Depending where you see those guys and whether you're a gringo or not The prices will fluctuate by hundreds of percentage points now when you're on or near the gringo tourist trail the shoeshine boys will come up to you and say shine and
[15:21] When you're way off the trail, they'll say lustre and believe me The price will be much different whether the guy says lustre or shine Why well as you might imagine Gringos respond to the word shine and locals to lustre you get it, right? Now about those shoeshine boys. Oh, and they're not all boys either lots of them are grown men But never have I seen a lady shoeshine girl Though I have to say it would be a good marketing quite a novelty to have shoeshine girls I guess no one's thought of it yet Or maybe it's a close click and the shoeshine boys would bully the girls or they wouldn't let them in the unofficial shoeshine union Anyway, you'll see them everywhere a little guys carrying around tiny wooden boxes and they'll pull up next year and say shine Or when off the tourist trail lost today. That's lustre. It's got the root word luster in it
[16:10] Hey, everyone wants their shoes looking lustrous, right? Except, you know, some shoes can't be shined Like flip-flops Jesus sandals or tennis shoes But those guys will still come up to you and ask you if you want to shine funny thing to guys get the shine That'd be gringos and Latinos. That's an almost 100% male thing, too We're talking about guys on the receiving end of a shine You never see gringas or Latinas getting a shoe shine though. I'm sure there are exceptions. I've never seen one It's odd, you know ladies wear walking shoes, too, right? So why not an occasional shine? I don't get it, but there's a lot of things I don't get for example in Antigua, Guatemala Which is considered on the tourist trail in Guatemala, but it's not high tourist trail like Cancun or anything like that at all But it's a place where lots of gringos tourists and Europeans hang out because it's an
[16:59] International UNESCO World Heritage Site That means lots and lots of backpackers and tree-hugging gringos in their upscale LL bean and banana Republic outback hike and duds Now if you're in Antigua, Guatemala and you're in the Central Park and you sit down on a bench within 30 seconds There'll be two or three or four shoe shine boys jockey in four position Some of them pint size even under 10 years old Funny thing is as far as gringo tourists who are just down for maybe a week or two They'll get a shoe shine whether they need it or not because it looks so cute a little eight-year-old kids shining your shoes It's a great photo op for a tourist Now the thing is this might sound petty But you should ask the kid how much before you have them shine your shoes because some of them will say three even five
[17:44] Bucks when the going rate for a local is 50 cents. If you're new in town, how you gonna know? You see the shine boys who hang around tourist areas are jaded They don't even want to shine the shoes of the locals They want the gringos and Europeans because they'll pay three to five bucks now as for me when I'm in the Central Park And the kid comes up and asked for a shine and says let's say three bucks I say in the city in Guatemala City, which is way off the gringo tourist trail I tell them I get the same shine for 50 cents and guess what they'll ham and ha but they'll do it for 50 cents Then after they're done, I'll usually give them a buck By the way, you can tell is a big difference between shoeshine boys on and off the gringo tourist trail You can usually tell by looking at the shine boys on the tourist trail They look healthier cleaner and a little better nourished then the shine boys in the big cities off the gringo trail
[18:34] And why not they make two three even five hundred percent more The truth is of course you can pay them just what they're asking but you know, it's a symptom of what happened in Costa Rica Cancun and all the other places on the gringo tourist trail where gringos and expats have Unwittingly jacked up prices and as unfair as this sounds to locals. It does distort the economy Meanwhile, you got everyone who goes to Costa Rica and Cancun saying man is that place expensive? It's like, New York or Chicago Well, how do you think that happened? The locals didn't do that the gringos did now There's one place I personally really experienced the gringo gouge At the vet. Yeah, I've always had dogs. So I do stuff in at the vet. Now. Here's what I've noticed in Latin America There are three kinds of vets the ones that are located in upscale shopping malls
[19:23] They usually have a very nice van or two painted with happy dogs and cats on it Just know if that's your vet it's gonna be gringo prices all the way you walk in one of those places You'll see upscale Latinos and gringos in that waiting room and they'll stock all kinds of imported dog and cat toys and paraphernalia There are two along with a variety of expensive and trendy imported dog and cat food and some of those guys have a green healthy Non-gmo dog and cat food section too. So hold on to your wallet. You'll be paying through the nose for that stuff Remember, it's all imported next. You've got the more down-to-earth vet number two He's got his office in a normal residential area or barrio. Oftentimes the office could be a little scruffy They don't have a personalized artistically rendered doggy van
[20:09] Maybe an old beat-up station wagon to haul their fuzzy clients around and in their waiting room middle-class Latino customers Almost no gringos at all or upscale Latinos for that matter and their prices reflect that Then you've got your horse and farm animal doctors They're usually located inside one of those big buildings called an agua picario a place where you buy feed for farm animals and medicines And those are the least expensive vets of all but man, do they know their stuff? Now the gringo gouge or gringo prices applies to both vets and some pharmacies, too Here's a story. I just heard about happened in Ecuador a veterinarian prescribed an antifungal medicine for an expats pet schnauzer While at the pharmacy for Masia. She was quoted 292 bucks for 120 tablets. She was shocked and reported back to the vet and told him the price
[20:59] He told her many pharmacies give gringos the highest price medicines available They don't even tell him about the generics. So the vet accompanied the dog owner to another Masia where they bought the same hundred twenty pills generic now for 20 bucks Imagine that the first pharmacist wanted to nail that gringa for a 1500% markup Sad thing is she was shocked at the first pharmacist bill But what a paid it without knowing the facts because she's a gringa the pharmacist knew it and knew she had the money a pharmacist Would never try that stuff on a local wouldn't do many good anyway There isn't a local around who's got 300 bucks to drop on his dog That's a month salary for the average Latin American The question is how are you supposed to feel when you know you've been gouged you might realize it at the moment or a couple
[21:50] Of days or even weeks later when you compare prices with other gringos and locals, of course, you've been ripped off But do you feel pissed off? Do you want revenge? Do you want to go back there and confront the guy? It's hardly worth it. After all, no one's forcing you to make those kind of deals where the price seems outrageous or not you agreed So then what are the locals who gouge you thinking in the moment? Well, there's lots of controversy and opinions about that. Some people say it's explained by xenophobia Locals that believe the ugly American stories they hear from friends and relatives or maybe they were personally treated rudely by some gringo or expat in the past that could easily be the case while on the gringo tourist trail in cities like Cuenca or Costa Rica Cancun where the gringo expat populations exploded over the past decade or so and gringos disrespect the local culture sometimes or
[22:41] Are perceived to be crowding out the locals and increasing the prices and cost of living for them So then they might be thinking why not disrespect the gringos in return though Sometimes a gringo will get gouged simply because there's an opportunity to do so For example, you go into a local hardware store and you're looking for a certain kind of water pump and there's only one there He's gotcha, right? There's no alternative the seller sees a chance to make a few extra bucks and he takes it You know the more you embed yourself on the gringo tourist trail the more the locals are susceptible to jealousy and envy You know, there are lots of Latinos that have made it to the United States and are doing pretty well Then five ten or twenty years later when they've established themselves They'll make that trip back down to Costa Rica Guatemala Ecuador
[23:27] Whatever bragging to the folks in the home country who are still pretty poor by comparison. There's a lot of that going down Latinos coming back for a visit putting on the dog showing off their bling and their Nikes How do you think the much poorer locals feel about that? No one likes to show off braggart or a wise guy, especially if it's a family member though I have to say it's a particular conundrum for gringos and expats When they get taken advantage of especially long-term gringos and expats who you see living in the area These are good steady repeat customers, but somehow certain local Latinos don't see it that way They want to make a buck now today Even if it means forfeiting a hundred times that in potential dollars in the future That's a discussion gringos and expats have all the time. Why is the guy trying to gouge me?
[24:14] Doesn't he know if he treats me fair? He'll be cultivating a good client for life It doesn't make sense Especially on the gringo tourist trail locals will try to take advantage of a customer who could be a good steady client and refer others You see that all the time with these appliance repair guys Let's say for example getting a guy over to do maintenance on your air conditioner First thing he wants to know is where do you live? That way he can qualify if you're living in a wealthy high-end zone or in the body Oh, if you're in a high-end area, he'll charge you 40 bucks in a barrio 20 That's not always the case of course But you know those mechanics and repair guys they talk to each other and they know what the traffic will bear It can also make a big difference if you have a local Latino who's a friend of yours Let's say do the call then even if you were in a known expensive high-end area You're a Latino or Latina buddy can negotiate and you with your bad Spanish
[25:03] Even if it's good, you still won't be nearly as successful as the local guy trying to make the deal There's another thing that needs mentioning Latinos are very superstitious and Religious though. It may not seem like it the way they especially the macho guys grew around on their partners So what does that have?