At risk of placing peoples into generalized groups I will note that differences in cultures often breed differences in even the most general of thought processes. My competitions in rifle shooting for instance have long brought from the wife’s Colombian friends and family that same tired old question…..
“How much money can you win?”
The answer of “nothing” often bringing on the mild look of disbelief tinged with a modicum of disdain. Inability to accept the concept of all that effort for no monetary gain is not an indictment of greed however. It’s simply that for some the little word … “competencia”….. seemingly changes things from fun to work. And who wants to work for free, right?
When our friend Jairo first came to the United States he heard of our local annual 100 mile bicycle race and being a long time cycle enthusiast he became somewhat enthused. Quite possibly due to lack of language skills some of the finer details of the race had escaped poor Jairo and he immediately went shopping for a garage sale bicycle. Now this race attracts a very serious cycling crowd and that can be attested to by the amount of money spent on slippery looking, color coordinated cycling clothes and helmets needed to pedal bicycles of value unfathomable by Jairo. Prior to the start of the race the truly serious went through an impressive display of warm up stretches and drank specially formulated natural beverages as Jairo stood by in his cutoff jeans sipping a Coke for breakfast.
The race turned out to be a huge disappointment for many including poor Jairo who one hundred miles later came first across the finish line. This is where Jairo was to be confronted by one of those finer details of the race missed by inadequate language skills ….the prize. Now many would walk tall considering the quality of fellow competitors beaten that day but poor Jairo’s attitude was simple as he was simply pissed……
” Can’t buy groceries with a trophy.”
And I suppose there is a great deal of truth in that….
