On Staring By Faith Muñoz Two minutes and six seconds is the longest I’ve been able to stare without blinking. I know this because I timed it. Forty minutes and fifty-nine seconds is the world record. Hell to the no on trying to beat that. The staring game is my one and only party trick. It’s the only physical game I can beat my athletically gifted cousins at. I have none other than my Mexican genes to thank for this not so super power. No, seriously, of all the countries I’ve been to in my life time – Mexico, Italy, Canada, France, and the United Arab Emirates – no one stares more than the Mexican. As a kid in the United States, my mom constantly told me, “Don’t stare. It’s rude to stare.” Then, when I was 8 years old, we moved to Mexico. Funny enough, it was a culture shock to me even though I looked just like everyone else. The rhythmic language, the relaxed approach to life, and the smells were very new to me. The one thing that surprised me the most, but took no time to get used to, was the staring. Wasn’t it rude to stare? Not here. In Mexico, everyone, the children, the elderly, even the dogs stare. I could be running an errand on foot just a few blocks from home minding my own business when all of the sudden a car passes and everyone, including the driver, turns to stare at me or someone else on the street. At first, I thought it was because I spoke like a gringa. I learned Spanish, but it didn’t stop. Then I thought it was because I looked like a popis1 because I wore the uniform from the best school in town. But the staring persisted. In elementary, my favorite thing to do when I arrived to school was to stand behind the gated entrance and watch the cars pass by while all the kids played in the playground behind me. The school guard stood at the door letting the children in and I stood at the other end watching
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Stereotype for a stuck up, rich person