Weekends are for fact-checking. In fact, I’m thinking of using them to write more about my family’s history, since I have more time on weekends to do research.
I’m more fascinated every day by how the world, as it evolved, was a macro image of things happening in my own family and in the fast-changing Mexican and Mexican-American cultures.
For now, I got one fact wrong – an important one. And I love the correction!
Today I learned that the “poor mexican gone” saying didn’t come from my my mom’s mom, although she was known for making up some pretty funny ones.
It turns out this phrasing came from my paternal grandfather – my dad’s dad.
So what started as this:
Cuando hitty con un cartucho
No come back
Cuando de repente pún
Poor Mexican gone
Actually meant this:
When you pull the trigger [on the gun],
The bullet doesn’t come back
When it hits the Mexican,
He doesn’t come back [either]
I love that, as facts come together with more clarity, the surprises keep coming, rearranging the pieces of this puzzle.
As with many things in life, sometimes it’s just not as important to see what it all looks like in the end, when the journey alone has so much to teach us. I’m grateful for the rich lessons along the way.
poor mexican gone 
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