Rick Smith/Columnist
People want what is owned them.
Cousin Sharon had arranged home delivery of her hometown newspaper. Finances were never her area of specialization, but who doesn’t have an extra $3.75 a month, she asked herself. Well, she didn’t. She immediately started falling behind on payment.
The youngster that delivered her paper early each morning had made three attempts to collect his money and each time, Sharon had managed to avoid him. But at the beginning of the fourth month, her luck reached a standstill. He caught her getting out of her sunburst red Ford Escort following a quick trip to the Piggly Wiggly on Union Street.
“Ma’am, I need to collect my money for the newspaper. You owe me for the past three months,” announced the red-headed freckled-faced lad.
Sharon stood from a stooped position having retrieved a sack of groceries from the back seat. She had not seen him approach her car.
“Three months!?” She bumped the door shut with her right hip and smiled.
“Yes, ma’am. That’ll be $11.25.” He wasn’t smiling.
“Well, I don’t have it,” replied Sharon with an edge of dismissal.
“You don’t understand,” he pressed. “I need it ‘cause I get commission.” He pushed his glasses up with his middle finger.
Sharon sang the same old song. “Well, I don’t have it.” She repositioned her weight, shifted a grocery bag to the other arm, peered over the top of her sunglasses, and said, “You know, you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip.”
“No ma’am, you can’t. But you can sure take the turnip.”
He walked away from Sharon’s house with his $11.25.
Yep, people want what is owed to them.
In 1861 following two years of civil war, Mexican President Benito Juarez suspended payment of foreign debts to the United Kingdom, Spain, and France. All three nations sent warships to Mexico to seize payment. The first two haggled, reaching an agreement on repayment, and withdrew. The French, on the other hand, made plans to conquer Mexico and establish a pro-French monarchy.
Things can disintegrate quickly when people do not get what’s owed to them.
An elite French military force, headed for Mexico City, was stopped on May 5, 1862, at Puebla, a city about 80 miles southeast of the city. Working with a tag, rag, and bobtail army, Texas-born general Ignacio Zaragoza defeated the superior French forces. The French withdrew. It was a significant morale boost for a nation whose back was against the wall. Years down the road, this day in history would become known as Cinco de Mayo.
Though Cinco de Mayo is not a national holiday in Mexico, it is commemorated in Puebla. All across Texas, Cinco de Mayo has long been celebrated as a holiday. Texans today are fortunate to live in a place where two cultures meld. We are the recipients of lively Hispanic heritage that has given us vibrant celebrations, delicious cuisine, and nationally recognized entertainers.
So, during this Cinco de Mayo, enjoy a citrusy Margurita, chips and salsa, guacamole, enchiladas, tacos, and a muy grande bowl of pozole.
Rick Smith is a Jeffersonian and can be reached at theriquemeister@gmail.com.