On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 20:51:11 -0700, Scott en Aztl‡n
Just curious - have you ever been?
I worry about the same things you do, but if you're careful and watch yourself, odds are you're going to be okay.
They don't want to f*** people over in the major turista areas - it's bad for business and they're probably not going to f*** with you if you aren't causing a problem.
Of course you might get unlucky and the odds of that happening are probably greater than in the US, but I'm not willing to let that prevent me from going there.
A friend of mine was recently found guilty of being a drunk gringo walking back to his hotel and had to pay a fine (bribe). It's the same thing in the US - I'm sure you speed. You could face the same type of "bribe" in the US, only it would be more formal and you wouldn't have to deal with the communication barrier. My friend doesn't speak much Spanish beyond "cerveza" and "gracias", but they made it pretty clear it was cash or jail. He gladly (and wisely) chose cash - about the same amount as a speeding ticket in the US, but no points on his license.
Most of the time, you never get busted for being a drunk gringo, especially if you can sense certain lines you shouldn't cross. Sometimes those lines are literal, meaning you shouldn't walk down a certain street and sometimes they are behavioral, meaning you shouldn't loudly complain about all the wetbacks taking over the country while downing tequila shots with Tecate chasers ;-)
