Friday, May 21, 2010

Honest Islanders

So, amidst some negative stuff coming out of Mexico, here is a little bit of reality from this little island...

I have two routers that no longer work and are beyond repair. I salvaged the power supplies and the antennas, and asked Miguel if the boxes should go in the garbage or to the recycler. I'm not sure what he decided, I think he decided 'neither', but in any case, he took them from me and put them in the little cubby compartments in the golf cart (an unlocked type of glove compartment on both sides at the front seat).

The routers have been in the golf cart for almost a week, and nobody has touched them. Miguel did see one guy pass by and do a double-take and come by again to get a better look, but then he went on his way.

The neighborhood cop came by one day and mentioned to Miguel about the routers being there and worried that they could get stolen. Miguel explained the situation to him - they are basically worthless so we don't care if someone takes them. In fact, we wish they would.

Alas, nobody has taken what looks to be valuable computer equipment. We know that if we left a screwdriver or a bungee cable in the compartment that it would have disappeared long ago. We have decided that maybe the routers look like hidden cameras or something, and people are afraid to come close in case they get caught in the act. Or maybe people are just honest!

We were out late this afternoon and had a breakdown over by the navy hospital. As Miguel fiddled with the broken cable and tried to figure out how to tie it (try tying a short piece of stiff wire to a piece of fishing line - isn't going to happen, and if it does, it's likely to accelerate so fast that we'll plow down anything in our path - good thing he didn't succeed, I think), I took off my sunglasses and placed them on the roof of the golf cart.

I should know better. When Miguel finally decided he couldn't tie the two little bits together, he told me to gather my things and get a taxi home (I am still having problems with my feet and cannot walk that distance). I picked up my raincoat and my jacket and the water jug we had on the back that we need to exchange, and went out to the main road to hail a cab.

Miguel followed on foot with Loco, and was home about 10 minutes after me. He gathered up some tools and left, planning to try to buy a part to fix the cable. After he left I wandered around the house and suddenly realized I didn't have my sunglasses (no, I didn't need my sunglasses in the house, but for some reason I thought about them). I searched several times in all the places I could think of, but did not find my sunglasses.

My sunglasses are prescription - they cost about $300 2 or 3 years ago. Not something I really want to have to replace right now. I figured I must have left the glasses on top of the golf cart. Should I write them off or hope that the honest people living here would just leave them there? I decided to go back to look for them.

I grabbed a cab and was delighted when I got to the cart and found my glasses right up on the roof where I'd left them. In 20 minutes or so, nobody had touched my glasses. This is the honesty one often experiences from the people here on this island.

Either that or they thought the router would take their picture if they touched my glasses.


Life's a Beach! said...

Nice story Sue. I was wondering how your feet are doing. Hope they get better soon.

Jamqueen said...

Glad the sunglasses were still there!

Moongrl722 said...

We left our camera on a table at Angelo's one night and realized it about a block away. As we turned to head back, our waiter was running after us, shouting and holding the camera up in the air. :)

Islagringo said...

I think it was just a freaky experience. Are you sure people could see onto the top of your cart? I don't trust anybody on this island anymore.

Jackie said...

My camera fell out of my backpack and was left on the seat of the golf cart. I got to apartment and was talking to Vinnie outside when the kid from the Joquins' Motos came over and said "lady, your camera". Thankfully he likes to sit in my golf cart and noticed the camera before anyone else did.

Sue said...

Beck - thanks, I hope they get better soon too, I hate not being as mobile as I'd like.

Ann - me too!

Jana and Jackie - I've had people come after me with stuff I've dropped or left behind too, and Miguel has had his wallet returned two of the three times he lost it (once with the money still intact).

Wayne - well, for sure short people would not have noticed the glasses, but they were easily spotted if one was tall enough. I think there are lots of honest people around here, just like anywhere...but a few bad ones makes one distrustful. Maybe I should give you one of the routers and you could set it up on your wall? You never know, it might be a deterrent?