Balancing the Gringo Image

I was walking back from the bank today and witnessed an accident.

Across the street a car was pulling over to the curb when it clipped the front bumper of a parked car and tore it clean off.

I stopped and stared as did a couple of other gringos. The offending vehicle waited a moment and then drove off and around the corner.

“We just witnessed a hit and run!” said the man standing next to me.

“I couldn’t make out where the plates were from,” I said, but I remembered the plate numbers.

“Texas,” he said. “And it was a white Volkswagen.”

Traffic does not move swiftly in San Miguel, so I headed off at a brisk pace whilst drawing my pen and notebook from my bag. Sure enough, half way down the block the Volkswagen was stuck in traffic. It turned the corner and stopped in a handicapped space. I walked up and copied down the information; white Volkswagen Touareg, Texas plates and the number.

I saw a Transito officer near the car and tried to explain, in my horrible Spanish, what had just happened. All he did was point out to the driver (a gray bearded gringo) that he was in a handicapped zone.

I charged back up to the scene of the crime to find another Transito officer standing in front of the damaged vehicle, writing in a little notebook. I walked up to him and explained that I had seen the accident (or in my Spanish, “I see the accident”) and had a description of the vehicle and the plate numbers. “Bueno!” responded two women in the nearby shop. I gave him a description of the car, my name and home phone number.

Home, about an hour later, I received a call from the owner of the damaged vehicle. She asked that I meet her at the “Ministerio Publico” to help her file a complaint. I agreed (since the Ministerio Publico is very close to my house) and met Maria. A lovely young Mexican woman, very animated, who was quite unhappy with the way her day was going but extremely grateful that I was willing to be a witness. We talked about how easily the offender could have handled the situation. Body work on a car is not expensive in Mexico. He could have left a note, they could have met, and for about $75 USD he probably could have resolved the whole situation. (Anyone who drives a Touareg can probably afford a lot more.) Instead, he hit and ran, probably afraid which I tried to justify on his behalf (although I didn’t think his behavior correct).

I’ve heard horror stories about filing a compliant with the Ministerio Publico but I feel that I need to do my duty.

I probably should have stuck my head in the window of that Volkswagen and said, “I saw you take the bumper off that car and I have your plate numbers. You need to go back and resolve this or I’m going to turn you in. If you need my help, I’ll provide what translation services that I can.” But in truth, I was afraid that he might be a freak and I did what we tend to do in the states; turn it over to the authorities. But the authorities are a little different here and, in retrospect, I wish that I’d had the guts.

Maria needs more paperwork before she can file her complaint. So she has my home phone number and cell phone as well. We’ll see how it plays out. But I clearly felt like the good behavior of one gringo helped balance the bad behavior of another.