I am in a Snit

I am in my yearly snit. Now my wife would contend that I am in a snitty mood daily and sometimes more often than that. However, I am in my Yearly Snit-it's the Tourist Season.

The tourists flooding into Guanajuato is not news, I guess. We have them all year round. In the month of October, the month of the infamous-you can only find it here-Festival Internacional Cervantino, there is an influx of 50,000 plus tourist who stay for the entire three weeks this hardy-party lasts.

What I am talking about, is the time of the year, the summer, when AMERICAN tourists coming pouring into our adopted city throwing money around like it was pigeon feed, and expecting the locals to bow and scrape before their American presence, kissing their rings, and whatever else they would like the locals to kiss.

Now, if you think I am at all exaggerating this let me tell that once I had a conversation with a woman from America about his very issue. She wanted to know why she felt, "under the eye", or "looked down upon" in San Miguel de Allende (another little colonial town not to far from where I live but much more infected with American tourists). I told her exactly why. It wasn't received well. She acted as though I had just made several obscene gestures and cast doubt as to the true source of her paternal origins.

Her "coming-un-glued" response was this,

"Well, these people should be thankful that we are here throwing money into their faces".

Let me warn you that I am about to make a huge generalization here and I do so without the slightest hesitation. I have lived in this country long enough to make the anecdotal observation (not to mention the thousands of stories I have been collecting from third parties accounts) that Americans-tourists and some expatriates-generally haven't a clue how to act in someone else's culture.

What I am really thinking is that the vast majority of Americans act abroad the very same way they act at home-like jackasses. I am referring to the majority of the twenty million or so tourists who come to Mexico each year infected with the Ugly American Syndrome and in some cases terminally so.

I've recently begin wondering, from reader's email I get, if some of these 20 million are also infected with "TMPS" (The Minuteman Project Syndrome).

If you want to read about The Ugly American Syndrome here in Mexico go to www.lulu.com or www.amazon.com and write my name, Douglas Bower, into the search engines to find my books with plenty stories of how American Tourists act when they come to Mexico. Be sure to buy as many copies as you can afford and give them out as Christmas presents.

In the meantime, if you are cash strapped, go to this web site and read an account by friend, Dane, who made a blog entry on an example he ran into of The Ugly American Syndrome. He is currently studying in San Miguel de Allende, where The Ugly American Syndrome is so rampant, so prevalent, that there is not even the remotest possibility the behavioral disorder ever being extinguished.

Check out Dane's blog at: http://www.zyworld.com/theolog/Home.htm His blog report from San Miguel is what got me in my current Snit. Do you think there is a Snit therapist out there somewhere?

Doug Bower is a freelance writer, Syndicated Columnist, and book author. His most recent writing credits include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Transitions Abroad. He is a columnist with Cricketsoda.com and more than 21 additional online magazines. He is also a writer with EzineArticles.com with a readership of almost 6,000. He lives with his wife in Guanajuato, Mexico. His newest books, Mexican Living: Blogging it from a Third World Country can be seen: CLICK HERE: http://www.lulu.com/mexicanliving

recurring maid service Buffalo Grove ..

In The News:

The iconic Mary Kay pink Cadillac goes electric with the Cadillac Optiq, available only to the company's top 1% of sales force performers.

Cybercriminals abuse trusted Intel driver to gain kernel access and shut down Windows Defender, enabling undetected malware deployment since July 2025.

Using email aliases for online shopping and subscriptions can protect your privacy by preventing companies from linking your activity across websites.

New research shows AI overlap does not equal job replacement, with knowledge-based roles seeing most integration while physical jobs remain least affected.

Scammers target seniors who avoid social media by exploiting public records like obituaries and real estate filings to steal personal information and money

Recovery team in Italy use AI-enabled drones to detect missing hiker's red helmet, leading to successful recovery after months of ground searches

Google Salesforce system breach exposes business data while scammers use incident to target users with fake security calls and phishing attempts.

Google announces Pixel 10 lineup with Tensor G5 chip and Gemini Nano AI, introducing Magic Cue, Pro Res Zoom up to 100x and satellite emergency support features.

C San Diego study reveals 86% of school safety companies monitor students 24/7 on personal devices, raising privacy concerns.

Users can now add their favorite outlets' coverage to the Top Stories section of Google search results by utilizing the 'preferred sources' feature. With just a few clicks, you can add Fox News.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS shows an unexpected frontal glow that Harvard's Avi Loeb says cannot be explained by sunlight reflection or standard cometary outgassing.

Receiving order confirmations for purchases you never made could mean your email address is being exploited in fraud operations targeting multiple retailers.

First wireless brain implant works with Apple's official protocol, enabling hands-free control of iPhones, iPads and Vision Pro through thought alone.

Data brokers sell personal details that scammers use to target retirement funds through fake financial advisor calls and convincing phishing attempts

Ten innovative tech solutions from gait sensors to smart pill dispensers help adults 65+ track fall risks and prevent injuries before they happen.

Meta AI internal documents revealed chatbots were allowed to flirt with children and engage in romantic conversations until the company was exposed by Reuters.

ChatGPT will avoid giving direct mental health advice under new OpenAI rules following instances where the AI model provided harmful or misleading responses.

Your phone tracks you in more ways than that little GPS icon suggests. Here’s how to find and clear hidden location logs on iPhone and Android.

Authorities in France and the Netherlands have been notified. Meanwhile, impacted customers are being told to stay alert.

Apple just rolled out a redesigned Blood Oxygen feature to specific models, following a recent victory in a legal dispute.

Kidney dialysis provider DaVita experienced a ransomware breach by the Interlock gang affecting 916,000 people in the second-largest U.S. healthcare attack of 2025.

A Chinese-made Unitree R1 robot walked Manhattan streets and shopped for shoes as part of KraneShares' $28 million AI robotics fund promotion campaign.

The ShinyHunters cybercriminal group breached Google's Salesforce system through vishing attacks, stealing business contact details and customer data.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

I am in a Snit

Vacation Rental