¿Que nos pasa, Puerto Rico?
I started thinking about writing this post while I was driving home from college earlier today. I was listening to the radio and one of those "¿Qué nos pasa, Puerto Rico?" ("What's wrong with us, Puerto Rico?") commercials came on.
For some time now, there's been a campaign that is supposed to remind Puerto Ricans of the decaying of human morals and manners. Radio and TV commercials that are harsh in their sincere portrayal of typical, everyday Puerto Ricans' behavior. For example, here's the commercial I heard today. (The statistics might be off, I didn't memorize the entire thing...)
If you spent 15 minutes on the highway, you would see that 4 out of every 10 people throw trash out the window.
8 out of every 10 talk on their cell phones while driving.
5 out of every 10 use the emergency lane as a regular lane.
What's wrong with us, Puerto Rico?
...
I hate the damn commercials.
Why? First, because they're true. It pisses me off to listen to them and remember witnessing similar atrocious behavior on the street. I effin' hate driving, and avoid it as much as possible, and it's because it makes my blood boil when I see the things people do on the streets.
I also hate the commercials because we've reached the shameful level when these commercials are NECESSARY. It's infuriating that we need a bitch-slap like them.
But what I hate most is that the commercials throw the truth in our faces, but I haven't seen a shred of results.
Here's a little anecdote that pretty much encompasses everything: Once, I was driving, and I was stuck in a nasty traffic jam. On my right was the empty emergency lane. After a few cars zipped past me in that lane, I got fed up and pulled half of my car into the emergency lane, and for a while drove (more like inched) like that. I thought this would be enough to discourage the bastard gansos who wanted to use the emergency lane, but one of them wasn't. He was in a Jeep, and he managed to squeeze his vehicle between my car and the street's edge. Not only that, he stopped next to my car and shot me a filthy look. I was mute with disbelief. He was the one violating traffic regulations, and he was looking at me as if I was in the wrong.
If I didn't force myself to not wish others ill things, I would've wished that man much pain and genital putrefaction (which, were I God, would be the divine punishment for traffic violations).
That blasphemy being said, let's move on.
There is another side to this story.
Last night, Esteban was telling me of a talk show he'd heard on the radio. There had been a segment for foreigners in Puerto Rico to call in and talk about the country. Some woman from Panamá had called in and had begun to criticize acidly about the lack of cordiality and humility, and how she was dying to leave Puerto Rico already.
The response from the audience was like a tidal wave. Puerto Ricans called in to tell her off- calls ranged from "If you don't like it, leave, bitch!" to "As if HER country was sooo much better off!" to "What the hell's she talking about? Humility is what is most abundant here, it characterizes us!" (Which is mostly true, if you go to the countryside...)
Anyway. What floored me was the fact that there is still some glimmer of hope. People might complain about the state of the country, its politicians, its crime rate, its absurd sects (i.e., Mita?), the obsession with celebrity scandals and gossip, the economy, and the list goes on. But deep down, Puerto Ricans will defend Puerto Rico with everything they've got. It's a soft spot we all have.
My conclusion is that, no matter how ashamed of the country I (we) am (are) sometimes, I wouldn't change it for the world. Some people dream about studying overseas and never coming back, but I'm not one of those people. I want to stay here and do my part to make things here better. I want to stay here because living here and knowing this place gives me the rightful authority to bitch about it all I want.
For some time now, there's been a campaign that is supposed to remind Puerto Ricans of the decaying of human morals and manners. Radio and TV commercials that are harsh in their sincere portrayal of typical, everyday Puerto Ricans' behavior. For example, here's the commercial I heard today. (The statistics might be off, I didn't memorize the entire thing...)
If you spent 15 minutes on the highway, you would see that 4 out of every 10 people throw trash out the window.
8 out of every 10 talk on their cell phones while driving.
5 out of every 10 use the emergency lane as a regular lane.
What's wrong with us, Puerto Rico?
...
I hate the damn commercials.
Why? First, because they're true. It pisses me off to listen to them and remember witnessing similar atrocious behavior on the street. I effin' hate driving, and avoid it as much as possible, and it's because it makes my blood boil when I see the things people do on the streets.
I also hate the commercials because we've reached the shameful level when these commercials are NECESSARY. It's infuriating that we need a bitch-slap like them.
But what I hate most is that the commercials throw the truth in our faces, but I haven't seen a shred of results.
Here's a little anecdote that pretty much encompasses everything: Once, I was driving, and I was stuck in a nasty traffic jam. On my right was the empty emergency lane. After a few cars zipped past me in that lane, I got fed up and pulled half of my car into the emergency lane, and for a while drove (more like inched) like that. I thought this would be enough to discourage the bastard gansos who wanted to use the emergency lane, but one of them wasn't. He was in a Jeep, and he managed to squeeze his vehicle between my car and the street's edge. Not only that, he stopped next to my car and shot me a filthy look. I was mute with disbelief. He was the one violating traffic regulations, and he was looking at me as if I was in the wrong.
If I didn't force myself to not wish others ill things, I would've wished that man much pain and genital putrefaction (which, were I God, would be the divine punishment for traffic violations).
That blasphemy being said, let's move on.
There is another side to this story.
Last night, Esteban was telling me of a talk show he'd heard on the radio. There had been a segment for foreigners in Puerto Rico to call in and talk about the country. Some woman from Panamá had called in and had begun to criticize acidly about the lack of cordiality and humility, and how she was dying to leave Puerto Rico already.
The response from the audience was like a tidal wave. Puerto Ricans called in to tell her off- calls ranged from "If you don't like it, leave, bitch!" to "As if HER country was sooo much better off!" to "What the hell's she talking about? Humility is what is most abundant here, it characterizes us!" (Which is mostly true, if you go to the countryside...)
Anyway. What floored me was the fact that there is still some glimmer of hope. People might complain about the state of the country, its politicians, its crime rate, its absurd sects (i.e., Mita?), the obsession with celebrity scandals and gossip, the economy, and the list goes on. But deep down, Puerto Ricans will defend Puerto Rico with everything they've got. It's a soft spot we all have.
My conclusion is that, no matter how ashamed of the country I (we) am (are) sometimes, I wouldn't change it for the world. Some people dream about studying overseas and never coming back, but I'm not one of those people. I want to stay here and do my part to make things here better. I want to stay here because living here and knowing this place gives me the rightful authority to bitch about it all I want.
posted by Kaede at 2:08 PM
1 Comments:
Sabes, en la clase de comunicaciones se habla mucho de esos anuncios, y de por que no causan repercusiones positivas. Normalmente, se comparaban con otras campañas en otros países que intentaban lograr algo, y lo hacían con exito. Sin embargo, luego de las navidades, y la campaña de "Ni una bala más", el enfoque internacional se ha virado a Puerto Rico. Casi nunca se había visto una campaña con tanto exito en un país en tan corto periodo de tiempo. ¿Y por que fue? Por que todos la apoyaron. La Policia, los actores, la television, todos los programas, las noticias ,las revistas, las compañias de celular, las compañias de Cable, Directv, PRTC, etc. Fue una campaña que monopolizó un tema, y lo logró. Se dice que la campaña de Que Nos pasa... está hecha con calidad, pero intenta matar demasiados pajaros de un tiro. Los primeros anuncios que salieron estaban enfocados a cosas que pasaban en transportación pública, pero para esos entonces no tenían la cantidad de dinero que tienen ahora, y pues, su meta se diversificó e intenta cubrir demasiados topicos. La campaña se ha vuelto en una broma, un chiste, casi parte de la programación. Cuando hay un anuncio nuevo las tele-emisoras lo tratan como un programa, lo ponen durante las horas donde más televisión se ve, o más radio se escucha, por que tienen calidad. Ves a donde me dirigo? Se ha vuelto otro programa más, no un anuncio con una meta. Creo que un estudiante que se acaba de graduar de Copu fue contratado en esa agencia de publicidad, no estoy seguro, y pues, estan intentando enfocarl os que nos pasa en un tema, y monopolizar el mensaje. Que todos los pasen, y así se podría lograr un pequeño cambio.
Lo mismo sucede con lo de la deserción escolar. Quieren a Don Omar, y todos concluímos que no es apto para ello, sin embargo, las cadenas de no a las drogas han sido llevada portodo salsero/merenguero/deportista que ha estado envuelto en drogas en un pasado. Asi que Don Omar no sería tan mala opción. [Bleh] Pero lo que discutimos en las clases es la posibilidad de hacer que todos los medios, estrellas, musicos, actores, hasta la famosisima hija de Puerto Rico que no ha hecho nada para ser famosa (Maripili), participen. Estoy seguro que si se apoya la deserción escolar de esa manera, también podría tener efectos positivos.
Después de ese exito de "Ni una Bala Más", que aunque sonaba patetico de vez en cuando, Puerto Rico se ha vuelto un ejemplo en las comunicaciones. ^_^
Hablando de, otra cosa que recomiendan para el Que nos Pasa Puerto Rico? es que empiecen a enseñar un lado bueno de las cosas. Enseñan solo lo negativo en la gama increíble de anuncios, pero no recomiendan ninguna solución. El único Que nos pasa que me ha hecho efecto es el de la guagua publica, y el de los urinaderos de los baños. Que tienen un cantito de papel para que recomiendes valores. Ese está dinamico, y funciona.
Pero nada. Creo que Puerto Rico va en buen camino. Estamos llegando a una epoca que las viejas generaciones se están empequeñeciendo, y una nueva generación de, se supone, gente educada, y más liberal surge.
Y sí, Puerto Rico tiene muchisimas cosas malas, pero es nuestro país, sin ser un país. Y quien critique que me mencione una nación sin algo negativo. O sin muchas cosas negativas. Panamá tiene un historial oscurisimo, y muchisimas cosas malas. Al igual que EEUU, en donde solo nos presentan Miami Beach, Hollywood, y Washington.
Soy Cagueño, tu Bayamonesa, y estamos de acuerdo que los boricuas son animales en la carretera, pero, so what?
Post a Comment
<< Home