Prepare Yourself For 16% Tax Added Onto Food And Medicine
The PRI got their way, and IVA the 16% National Sales Tax has been added to FOOD and MEDICINE. I have already noticed some price increases in other industries (mostly tourist oriented).
Forum Discussion
40 some years ago my aunt taught me that it is customary to give the beggars in Mexico about 10 centavos. Mostly this would be the old women sitting on the curb with their had out. I call them "old crones" but I looked it up and maybe they aren't crones depending on your definition. Anyway, my aunt told me that we are their social security as they have none. I watch and see Mexicans handing coins to these old women so if I have coins I still give them to the old folks. Never ever to the beggar kids or anyone who appears capable of doing some work. Only the very old. Now we have been told that in San Miguel de Allende some crime organization brings these old women into town to beg and then takes their money at the end of the day. I do not know if this is gringo urban myth or if it is true. I know the old women have been there forever and I kind of doubt someone dreamed this up as a way to make money - using the old women then taking their money. So I still give them a peso or so. Maybe they really need it. Even if some are there for criminals I still think plenty of them need some help.
Then there are the guys in the parking lot - like at the grocery store. I have watched them sometimes when I wait in the car while Sue goes in to shop. These guys watch the cars and pick up the litter - they find a place for you to park and direct traffic helping you park - and do the same when you come out as they hold up traffic so you can back out - and help you stow you bags etc. Some also have cardboard to put over your windshield to keep the Sun out. Some will wash your car. They are the parking lot security force. I see the Mexicans tip them a peso or so so I tip them too. These guys created a job for themselves and found a way to work to make a living. They might be called bums in the US but in Mexico they are entrepreneurs - they made something out of nothing. Whether some people think so or not these guys provide a service - which is probably why the stores do not run them off and the Mexican people tip them. These guys hustle and work for a living even though some would not call this a real job.
We see many in Mexico who cannot find a "real" job so they create one and some of them even seem to make a halfway decent living. There are guys on the side of the road with bottles and rags who run out to clean windshields and people tip them - I don't want their dirty rags on our car but do appreciate their effort to create a job. We even see guys filling potholes with shovels and dirt hoping to get paid a little for smoothing the road a bit. Roadside stands and fruit sellers and the list goes on. Mexicans who cannot find a job find ways to create a job and to do some work. They get respect and self respect - though I occasionally see a disrespectful gringo dis-ing them. Lots of Mexican people find ways to earn some money to pay the small amount they need to pay for healthcare.
As visitors we need to understand there could be differences between our culture and the cultures we might visit.
Then there are the guys in the parking lot - like at the grocery store. I have watched them sometimes when I wait in the car while Sue goes in to shop. These guys watch the cars and pick up the litter - they find a place for you to park and direct traffic helping you park - and do the same when you come out as they hold up traffic so you can back out - and help you stow you bags etc. Some also have cardboard to put over your windshield to keep the Sun out. Some will wash your car. They are the parking lot security force. I see the Mexicans tip them a peso or so so I tip them too. These guys created a job for themselves and found a way to work to make a living. They might be called bums in the US but in Mexico they are entrepreneurs - they made something out of nothing. Whether some people think so or not these guys provide a service - which is probably why the stores do not run them off and the Mexican people tip them. These guys hustle and work for a living even though some would not call this a real job.
We see many in Mexico who cannot find a "real" job so they create one and some of them even seem to make a halfway decent living. There are guys on the side of the road with bottles and rags who run out to clean windshields and people tip them - I don't want their dirty rags on our car but do appreciate their effort to create a job. We even see guys filling potholes with shovels and dirt hoping to get paid a little for smoothing the road a bit. Roadside stands and fruit sellers and the list goes on. Mexicans who cannot find a job find ways to create a job and to do some work. They get respect and self respect - though I occasionally see a disrespectful gringo dis-ing them. Lots of Mexican people find ways to earn some money to pay the small amount they need to pay for healthcare.
As visitors we need to understand there could be differences between our culture and the cultures we might visit.
