Kickin' back

Men and women are different and one might argue those differences tend to lend themselves to gender roles. Whatever your take on the issue--and I'm not laying out my own views on this just now--what I've seen at my local supermarket just ain't cool.

Ok, so it's not particularly controversial to say that, generally speaking, there lingers a certain machismo in a lot of Hispanic-type cultures. After all, the etymology of the word points south of the border. That said, let me take you to the parking lot of the Food 4 Less supermarket at Lakewood and Rosecrans where the clientele is hugely Hispanic. I pull into a parking stall as usual, but this time I pause for a second and look around. All around me in the parking lot are these guys just sitting in their cars. Nothing weird about that, except that there were so many guys kicking back in their cars. I thought about it for a second and then I realized they'd all sent their women into the store to do the shopping while they leaned back in their seats and listened to the radio.

Stuff like that just bugs the heck out of me, probably for a couple reasons. First, it's been my experience that ya, there does seem to be a tad of chauvinism among some Hispanic men. Second, and more importantly, it bugs me because it's just plain rude, disrespectful, unfair and unkind. If you serve and help those whom you love then what do you call it when you shirk even this most basic opportunity to help?

...ahhh, but haven't we all missed an opportunity to help those we love. Another topic for another day.