How to Empathize with Mexicans
Mexicans are not difficult people to get along with as long as you bear in mind their preoccupation with personal and national honor and take great pains to protect their face at all times. People used to interacting with the Japanese will have few problems with Mexicans. However, it is even better to be proactive in terms of improving relations.
Indeed, any foreigner will do well by displaying quiet respect and distinct moral values to contradict squarely the Mexican-held stereotype of the “ugly American.” The Mexican sees a Yanqui as a money-minded materialist, therefore an incomplete human being, lacking in religious principles and family values and leading a way of life that produces undisciplined children who leave home early and disrespectful wives who sue for divorce. Men die early of heart attacks caused by the stress of American working life, long hours in the office and short vacations. Widows are quickly ushered into old folks’ rest homes by uncaring sons who proceed to repeat the ghastly cycle.
Many Americans and Northern Europeans do not fit this stereotype, often being good family members and possessing a set of principles (though perhaps Protestant, not Catholic) that are just as solid as those of Latin Americans. The Anglo-Saxon, German or Scandinavian, given a modicum of sensitivity and willingness to adapt, can quickly distance himself from this damaging image and gain the confidence of his Mexican partner. If you display patience, go for a win–win situation in business, nurture a solicitous relationship with the Mexican’s family members as well as sharing with them the details of your own private life, you will quickly convince the Mexican that there are good gringos and bad ones. Once this has been established and the question of relative status has been sorted out, many doors will open.
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