Saturday, September 26, 2009

It's The Cops!

"Larry, the police are outside and their guns are drawn."  Thus, Indra ended what was starting to be a pleasant afternoon siesta yesterday.  After performing a mental checklist of my past transgressions, I ruled out the possibility of said guns being aimed at me, and we went out on the upper deck to check it out.
What we found was a common site here, although not on our street:  the drug and guns checkpoint.

These stops can be quite unnerving at first until you get used to them, even when you know you don't have any guns or drugs even though you might want some.

As you can see, even the people on the lowly mopeds are not immune from searches.  I used to be searched when on the bus from Progreso to Merida going or coming home from work.  In fact, I was usually the only person on the bus being searched as I was the only Norte Americano.  I just smiled and went along with it because...

...well, you get the idea.  After 2 1/2 years here, they don't even bother to stop our car anymore as it is well known as the only Subaru in Progreso.

So, we watched the action for about five minutes with Indra cautioning that if the lead started flying, we were to duck for cover.  When we checked about five minutes after that, they had vanished.  We don't know if they set up this roadblock for anyone in particular or what the deal was.  Just part of life south of the border.

More later,
Larry

7 comments:

Mary said...

Holy shit, Dad. Plus, that guy looks like he's like 3 and a half feet tall.

popsbeal said...

"Go ahead, make my day"

BigAssBelle said...

"even when you know you don't have any guns or drugs even though you might want some." ja ja ja!

always something different in mexico. we were stopped, very, very thoroughly searched, then sent on our way when we were there in august. it was unnerving, but i expect we'll get used to it.

Susan said...

We were pulled over in Progreso last week after our two way street abruptly turned into a one way street. Just as TJ said, "I think I'm going the wrong way," the flashing lights came on. The police were super friendly, and ended up havining us follow them to our our destination. All four of them got out of the truck to bid us a Buenas noches, and that was it. Well, except for the 60 pesos we gave them, that was it.

Joanne said...

Chuck got stopped heading home into Progreso about 6 months ago. We drive a van with "stow-n-go" seats that fold away into the floor. The little guy with the big gun was very excited to find these secret compartments in the floor of the van and oh so disappointed when he was shown their purpose. He was sure he had found the big Canadian drug lord of Progreso.

Anonymous said...

I have never met a member of the Mexican Army or a Mexican police-person my old dog didn't like. Every one of them has been good to him. They are geat young people and Mexico should be very proud of them.

Larry said...

Thanks for the comments, guys. One thing is for sure, they are polite and very patient with us gringos. And they are up against a very dangerous foe and get very little compensation for it.