Carol and Harvey’s Adventures — Enlightened Or Unenlightened

Photo by Jezael Melgoza

After my class reunion, I told my husband Jonny about the invitations I’d extended to practically the whole class to visit us in Mexico. He just laughed and said, “Well, babe, you can get yourself, or us in this case, into some pretty good predicaments. I hope they don’t all come at once.”

“I don’t think that’ll happen, but if a couple did come we could handle that, no worries,” I assured him.

As fall arrived and we were packing to fly to our Mexican home, we hadn’t heard from any of my classmates about a visit, and I began to breathe a bit easier. I would have been excited had we gotten a call from some to say they were going to come and see us this winter, however, I’d preferred not to have to worry about plans to make certain they would go home happy. After all, I had set some high expectations by giving them suggestions for things to do, so I would have to deliver. What was I thinking?

When we left the colder temperatures behind and flew to the Yucatan Peninsula to our warmer second home, I was excited to get there and unpack so that we could begin enjoying the warm Caribbean Sea. We tried to always keep tabs on the weather back in the States each winter and were chagrined when we heard that there was an early blizzard in my old hometown in the Midwest, with more bad weather to come. Thus, it wasn’t a total shock when we got a note from Harvey telling us that he and his wife Alice had gotten their passports and purchased tickets to fly down to see us the first week of the new year…if that was okay with us, that is, he’d said. Also, if it was okay with us, they would stay three nights.

Their coming in January gave us plenty of time to plan and get a few things in order for their visit, so, I let them know that it was good with us and we were looking forward to seeing them.

It was only a couple of days later when Carol called to say that she and Joe would like to come down just after Thanksgiving. “Will that work for you?” she’d inquired. “And we’ll only stay three nights,” she said almost apologetically, “because I really don’t think I could find enough to occupy my time for more days than that.”

Did I just hear a whine? I thought as I rolled my eyes and shook my head, knowing she couldn’t see my reaction to her nonsensical attitude, but I told her, “Sure. Whatever works for you, Carol.”

Our calendar began to fill.

“I wonder what’s with just ‘three nights’ for those two?” I’d asked Jonny when talking about the two couple’s preferred time with us.

“They don’t know us very well, and are just being cautious, not wanting to be a burden on us, I’m thinking,” Jonny suggested.

“You’re right. That’s probably it, rather than them being afraid they’d hate it here and wouldn’t want to have too many days to deal with their dislikes,” I said sarcastically.

“Yeah, there’s that,” Jonny agreed. “And now we have to plan what we’ll do to keep them entertained for those few days.”

“When we pick them up and bring them back here, we’ll take them for a walk around the community to show them where our friends live, and a little of the history, and point them to the Yan Ten path, in case they’d get the urge to go for a long walk some morning, and then we’ll take them to the restaurant for dinner. That’s always awe-inspiring, and the food is good.”

Jonny nodded in agreement.

“The second day we could take them to town shopping. I’m sure Carol would like that, and then come back and spend some time on the beach.”

“The other day, we could take them to the ruins in Tulum, since it’s the closest,” Jonny suggested.

I agreed and then asked, “How would you feel about hiring a fishing boat to take the men out to do some sea fishing while us gals go shopping?” I asked.

“That would be good. I’d prefer that kind of day instead of following you around so that we could lug a bunch of sacks for you.”

When I gave him a raised eyebrow he stated, “Well, that’s what we’d be doing. Us guys aren’t shoppers.”

That became our plan. Jonny did his research to hire a fishing boat for each visit and felt relieved about having that in place, knowing they’d not be going shopping with us gals.

Photo by Pavan Trikutam

Time always seemed to fly while in the Caribbean, and the first several weeks were no exception. We had enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving Day with friends when we realized it was soon time to pick up Carol and Joe at the airport.

Driving back to our little community, they were both curious about their surroundings, but at our house, Carol was not as impressed as Joe seemed to be about our home. She didn’t like the fact that we basically lived outdoors with just a roof over our heads. Our kitchen, dining room, and living room were outdoors. Only the bedrooms and bathrooms were inside with closed walls.

“Someone could come in and rob us!” Carol declared unhappily, fearful for her own safety.

“That’s not likely to happen. We have security guards patrolling day and night,” I assured her.

I could tell she wasn’t convinced, even with her husband’s raves about the living conditions. Opposites attract, I told myself at the two’s contradicting attitudes.

Jonny took Joe fishing the next day while I took Carol shopping, as planned. She seemed a bit more excited about that adventure, so I was able to breathe a sigh of relief until I drove into the heart of the city toward Fifth Avenue where most of the tourist shopping was. As I drove cautiously down the busy streets, I glanced at Carol as she gawked out the window watching the people that were hustling along the sidewalks.

Her question threw me when she asked in disgust, “Why are there so many Mexicans here?”

“Huh? What do you mean ‘why’? This is Mexico. This is their country. We’re just visiting, remember?”

“Good, God! I had no idea that it would be like this. I thought the Mexicans would just be working for all the white tourists, and we wouldn’t see them except when they serve us.”

I was so stunned at her biased revelations showing her sheltered naiveté that I couldn’t find words to respond. She just kept staring out with a grimace on her face.

I finally snapped out of my shock and said, “Carol, I didn’t realize you were such a racist. I don’t understand how you can have such a mindset.”

“Oh, I’m not racist. As long as people of other nationalities, no matter their color, keep to themselves and don’t bother me, I’m fine with them.”

“That sounds pretty racist to me,” I muttered, then asked, “Have you ever had a conversation with anyone of color other than white?”

“Oh heavens, no! Why would I want to talk to any of those people?”

“To find out what they are about and find out that they are no different than you or me and are really wonderful people. They are loving, giving, thoughtful and caring, maybe more so than many white people I know.”

She wasn’t getting the drift. She just kept sneering. I continued, “Besides, how can you possibly judge another person by color alone, if you have never even spoken to one? I don’t get your attitude.”

She didn’t say anything.

When we arrived at the parking lot where we could walk to the shopping area on Fifth Avenue, I tried to liven the moment by telling her that she would not be disappointed with this venture, as the street was for pedestrians only, and we’d find lots of fun shops to look into. “Also,” I added, “after we shop a while, we can stop at any of the many eateries for lunch and then shop some more.”

That perked her up, and was what we did, making the rest of the day a big success for her. She couldn’t wait to show Joe her purchases.

We had drinks for happy hour on the beach that evening and watched the sun go down. Joe was in awe of the place, and went on and on about their fishing expedition, whereas Carol was mute.

Photo by Nathan Cima 

The next day we took them to Tulum to see the ruins along the sea cliff since they were so majestic and then had a late lunch in the busy town. Carol was unusually quiet, letting Joe do the raving about the whole experience. He said he was in love with this place and couldn’t wait to come back next year and spend more time. Carol just gave him a look.

“I’m even toying with the idea of buying a palapa in your community. Wow! Wouldn’t that be something?” he exclaimed. But the look on Carol’s face at his announcement said clearly that that was not going to happen. I felt bad for Joe. And I felt bad for Carol for her backward, narrow-minded ways of thinking.

I was hoping something would click with her to help her see that there was a whole wonderful world outside her little hometown, but apparently, her biases were too embedded. I feared for her and Joe’s future. His views had opened up wide, while hers stayed closed. Not a good match. But that was up to them to work out their different views.

One thing I noticed, though, before they flew back home: Carol did not complain once that she had nothing to do with herself and was bored to tears. Maybe there was hope for her yet.

Click here to reach Part 3 Harvey’s Reaction to Paradise — A Big Difference from Carol’s.

If you missed Part 1, click here to read I Don’t Know What I’d Do with Myself.