In this episode, Isidro talks about how his Dad would use the phrase, “NO ME CHINGLES!”, in response to harsh rhetoric from people who’d tell him things like, “GO BACK TO MEXICO!” or “IF YOU DON’T SPEAK ENGLISH, THEN YOU SHOULDN’T BE IN THIS COUNTRY!”
If you speak Spanish, “NO ME CHINGLES!” can be easily construed as a “bad” phrase. “Don’t mess with me” –
But to Isidro’s father, and later for the rest of his family, the phrase simply meant, “Don’t English Me!” If people started saying vulgar and threatening words to Isidro’s family because they did not speak English, NO ME CHINGLES was how they dealt with those people. “DO NOT ENGLISH ME THAT WAY” meant “DON’T TALK TO ME THAT WAY!” And then the Salas family would move on.
Isidro also shares the story of his Mom and Dad and how they attended night school to learn how to speak English. Back at the food truck, Isidro’s parents were often magically assisted by their customers to help them translate orders when English-only speaking customers were present.
Taquote
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A big thanks to Flobama for the theme music. Check out his EP “Flobama4Prez” available on all digital outlets today. The song was produced by Screech Beats. You can listen to more of his music on SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/swollscreech
