The hardest workers in the world

I saw the story on the NBC Nightly News last night. And while it was a bit of a surprise to me that it made the national news, I guess it should not have been. The report, which is now in several newspapers, found that Mexicans work the most hours each day compared to any other of the 29 industrialized nations. They also work later in life than those in most other countries.

A story in The News today, an English language newspaper from Mexico City, said the report runs counter to stereotypes and perceptions of the outside world, particularly opinions held by some citizens of the U.S. Indeed, when I was a child raised in San Jose, CA where there was a fairly large population of Mexican-Americans, it would not be unusual to hear that they were lazy, always taking siestas, and basically were not hard workers. I never understood that perception because the Latinos that I knew were quite the opposite. Not only were they hard working, but they were studious and devoted to getting the job done. My observations were reinforced throughout my career, working with some of the most devoted and talented photographers, who happened to also be Mexican Americans.

Now that I have lived pretty much full time in Mexico for three years, I have seen the Mexican work ethic up close. Most start work at 7:00 or 7:30 in the morning and work until 6:00 in the evening. The work week is Monday through Saturday. Though they often do not have the tools or resources that are available in other countries, they take pride in working hard to get the job done, even if it means improvising. For example, we had a new coffee maker that went out a couple of years ago. In the U.S., you would throw it away and buy a new one. Since imported items like high end coffee makers are extremely expensive here, we took our broken one to a repair shop. It took a couple of months, and they had to send the coffee maker to Guadalajara where they finally found the circuit board it needed. They fixed it (and they charged us nothing because the coffee maker was so new, they said it never should have failed!). And, they do it all with a smile.

It is all part of the Mexican experience that we truly enjoy. And we truly appreciate the work the Mexicans here do. Now, finally, they have received the recognition they deserve as being among the hardest working people on earth.