Don't be those people
Steve

On a somewhat regular basis, especially on social media it seems that a certain portion of expats think they are back in grade school with the gossip, meanness and petty bitches, never mind the outright falsehoods…so..a little advice from the beach gringo….

  1. Don't be those people
    Don’t be those people

    Making every effort to evade paying local taxes (notice I said evade, not legally avoid), then bitch about lack of funding for infrastructure, healthcare, education and the such is not only self-defeating but hypocritical….don’t be that gringo,

  2. If you are so involved in your Home Countries political events that you must broadcast, insult and generally be a dick, go back home and run for office, there will be no noticeable change simply because you posted on FB to the eventual outcome, beside having some kind of delusion of grandeur and alienating people simply based on a political belief again just a tad hypocritical….don’t be that gringo,
  3. Inserting yourself into other peoples personal lives without being invited, really, who cares who lives where, who did what or who fucked who, or who paid what to whomever, really none of your business, and if you are that bored that you must do these things there are many local charitable groups that you could volunteer at and put the wasted time to productive use, again, don’t be that gringo,
  4. Honesty goes a long way, if you need to lie, steal, cheat, beg, con or otherwise take advantage of anyone, then maybe you should rethink why you are where you are, make a promise, keep it, this idea that you can skate from con to con nope, sorry, sooner or later you will get called out and the bullshit house of cards you constructed will come tumbling down…don’t be that gringo,
  5. People do stupid shit, say stupid shit and generally the intent behind it is lost in the moment, be the bigger person, help the new gringo and advise how things get done, don’t degrade, belittle or abandon them, you were once in their shoes, show compassion, not contempt…don’t be that gringo

In every small community, you will be judged by your deeds, actions and words, for better or worse, but every single one of those items are items you can control, change and improve and really after all the effort you put into the move to a new country, why the hell wouldn’t you put the same effort into not being THAT gringo