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| Washing cars all day with a bucket and a rag demands a certain skill set. No attention is ever
paid to a sign in Spanish "No Car Washing Allowed!" The entrepreneur spots a vehicle coming into the lot and motions it over, as if a spot has been reserved, then guides the driver into a perfect park, hoping to create a sense of obligation. Pricing is on a sliding scale, usually starting at $6.00, but going as low as $4.00 or even $3.00 on a slow day. Two windshield wipers pointing straight up into the air means the driver hasn't yet paid for the service.
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| A shopper coming down the alley after hitting several stores. The pull cart means she is on
foot. Her cart is full with another bag attached. Her purse is around her elbow while she holds yet another large bag.
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| The two guys working on this paca disappeared into the building when I pulled out a camera. |
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| This man, recycling cans for subsistence, not some green initiative, at first refused a picture, but then changed his mind. |
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| This wrought iron shopping cart corral doubles as a bike rack at the downtown H.E.B. Male cyclists in downtown are never self-conscious about riding a girl's bike. |
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| The H.E.B. got a visit from this emergency vehicle. Inside the store a young woman from "across" had fainted. With the store manager and her significant other hovering over her, she declined the ride, later walking out under her own power. |
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Looks like Brownsville's pay scale, outside government work, is about on par with Merida, Mexico where I live. Here, it is 50 pesos for a parking lot attendant car wash. If you were to take the BISD payroll out of the local economy, Brownsville would have all the economic might of Rio Hondo.
ReplyDelete“It’s a real tragedy,” Oliveira said. “That $100 million that was there for UT-Brownsville would have given us the campus that we need. That $100 million would have been an accelerant, which would have ignited campus growth almost immediately.” BH 5/28
ReplyDeleteLooks like downtown will have to wait on that big fat stimulus paid for directly by the dumb ass students via their tuition. That is why they are called TUITION REVENUE BONDS. Let's all screw the students up with more debt so the administrators can have extravagant salaries and award their corrupt amigos rigged construction contracts. Too bad old Diego Rivera is long dead, they could get him to do a mural. Viva los ricos, chingan a los pobres!
Thanks Tony Martinez!
ReplyDeleteBut according to the Space X Freaks(the jobs from the heavens) jobs and jobs and jobs blah blah blah blah blah ..SPACE X is going to fix all OUR problems which will be passe...
ReplyDeleteYou must recall that the first living things sent into space were monkeys. It is not an accident that the first experimental commercial space flights will take-off from Boca Chica.
DeleteBrownsville continues to be an ejido of Matamoros and these pictures tend to prove it.
ReplyDeleteDo not despair. From those same piss stained alleys the likes of Julian Schnabel rose from his early years working in his father's ropa usada warehouse only to become today the mature, rotund New York Julian; a world famous multi-millionaire Renaissance man, genius of painting, film and all around bon vivant with an eye for the ladies.
DeleteAnother genius in painting and classical composition from Brownsville is Karl Julius Lieck who is on the verge of making a big splash in the public eye.
DeleteOhhhh, the beauty! Thank you Mayor Martinez and the countless other idiots that have revitalized downtown. We ARE NOT McAllen penedjetes. Instead of trying to fix a hopeless problem like this. By the way it looks like a scene from the Katrina aftermath. Take some of the money you are stealing and build a commercial area to the North of the highway. What says Tony?????? Where people will actually see it? Nonsense! We want the many pedestrians that walk over each day to be proud of their ropa usada establishments. We want our local attorneys to come drink and have lunch and dinner here. We want people to come in throves from the upper valley.... like in the 80's when people from McAllen and the upper valley would come to Amigoland mall and Genesis night club. That ship has sailed idiots. AS SOON AS YOU PASS MILE 3 IN LA FERIA, THE ESPRESSWAY (A WIDELY TRAVELED THOROFARE) IS SWAMPED WITH COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT FROM MERCEDES TO PAST MISSION.
ReplyDeleteThe pendejo doesn't see that being so close to the actual border is a hindrance not positive. TSC and UTB go on lockdown because of Matamoros shootouts all the time. Oh soooo wat says Tony...people want to come to downtown to feel like their in the old wild west and to visit Mexico.....They want to drive past Brownsvilles #1 business.....The Flea Market oh yea baby LA PULGA.......Yeah right! Nobody goes to Mexico anymore. It's like Afghanistan, not even the Nationals want to go there. That's why they're snatching up homes left and right here. THIS IS WHAT HAS SAVED THE BORDER REAL ESTATE MARKET and kept Brownsville afloat. Ask your local real estate agent, who by the way is probably from Mexico.
Although I did include captions, photos do not need interpretation. My personal motivation was one of admiration for people who adapt and survive.
ReplyDeleteJim
I totally respect and feel for unfortunate survivors. It's a great point to show how bad our leadership is and has been.
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