Please calm the fuck down

I live in Mexico, you don't, please calm down

The internet was in full panic mode yesterday, freaking out about the situation in Mexico. Unfortunately I have been driving myself mad trying to calm people down and correct misinformation, which is probably a purposeless effort when we are dealing with people who love internet hysterics.

I will never understand the inclination to panic. It’s unhelpful in almost every regard. But particularly if you are panicking about a thing you don’t understand, have no real information about, and are unaffected by. Which was… almost everyone on my X feed and in my mentions yesterday.

Without going into too much detail, because I don’t feel it’s my place, but do wish for people to calm the fuck down and stop listening to a bunch of grifters and people who love hyperbole, but who have no idea what they’re talking about, I will explain some basic things:

1. These things happen in Mexico sometimes. It is a reality. Some vehicles got burned. Some Oxxos. No civilians were targeted.

2. Things have calmed down, are under control, and are mostly back to normal, albeit not all stores and restaurants are open again yet. I suspect they will be operating as normal again tomorrow. Yes, flights were delayed, this situation will also normalize very soon. Sorry you are stuck are your resort for an extra day or two. You will be fine.

I love Mexico and I love Mexicans. I love the community I live in. Yes, there are risks when you live in this country that you should be aware of. This is a reality of life. Don’t be dumb. If you don’t wish to avoid being dumb and don’t wish to understand how things work and what to be careful of, don’t come here. Go to Florida. Or stay in your condo back in Vancouver, I don’t know. But don’t freak people out from afar based on “information” that you don’t know is true.

Risk is a part of life and you are either willing to accept some in exchange for freedom, fun, happiness, whatever, or you aren’t. For me, whatever risks there are in Mexico are far outweighed by the things I love about the culture, life, beauty, and community here. I wouldn’t trade that for a false sense of safety in boring-ass, authoritarian, dead-end Canada in a million years.

I am not personally invested in Canadians or Americans visiting Mexico, because my livelihood does not depend on the tourist economy, and frankly I’d be happy to never be around most of these people who visit resorts in Puerto Vallarta (PV) ever again, BUT there are many people in Mexico who do depend on the tourist economy and I feel bad that they will be hurt by all this misinformation and hyperbole.

Watching some dude in a Hawaiian shirt pretending to do hard-hitting, on-the-ground coverage of the situation in Puerto Vallarta, after having touristed there for a few days, offering a completely inaccurate representation of the situation because he thinks he can make a few bucks and position himself as a brave, independent journalist, is maddening.

If you are going to claim to be a reporter, then report. Do not state things as fact that you do not know to be fact.

This is all I will say for now, feel free to ask me any questions you like in the comments.

Viva Mexico!