- Part of what makes latino culture so amazing
besides our awesome culture, our super good food,
and our beautiful people, you know we have
the finest men in the world, is the amazing customs
we carry down with us through the generations.
(upbeat music)
For example, not opening the fridge when you go to
(speaking in foreign language).
Or not putting your shoes on the couch.
- Growing up with my parents,
there were a lot of rules in the house
for me and my sister, but not for my brother,
so you know how that goes.
- You cannot lock your doors.
They could lock their doors,
but you can't lock your doors because
(speaking in foreign language).
- My mom and my dad were both very strict.
We couldn't just go spend the night at somebody's house.
- One of the biggest rules was that I could not sleep over
anyone else's house, that was number one.
- And if we did, my mom was like,
where do they live, what's their Social Security,
what do the parents do?
- We weren't allowed to go out on the weekends,
we weren't allowed to go to parties,
and we weren't allowed to go to slumber parties.
My brothers could leave the house whenever they wanted.
They didn't even have to tell
my parents where they were going.
- As soon as the sun went down, you get your ass inside.
She believed we would get kidnapped or,
it was just like, Mom,
we wanna play nighttime hide and seek.
Nope. (speaking in foreign language)
- I remember my dad was like you better be here by six.
If you're not here by six, you not gonna go nowhere.
(speaking foreign language)
- I think my parents where very strict because
it was like the first time navigating in this country.
They just wanted to really protect me
from like evil factors of the world.
(speaking foreign language)
- Look I understand a lot of people
have different boundaries, but you know damn well
your mom always told you to go say hi to everybody.
We're taught early on by our parents, that we are
meant to be good people, mostly because
I think it's just a reflection on the way
that they raised us.
- Party etiquette of course, when you walk in
(speaking foreign language)
- Always had to say hi to everybody.
- Even that one cousin you don't like.
(speaking foreign language)
- And if you missed one,
(speaking foreign language)
- Mm hmm.
(speaking foreign language)
- If I ever went to somebody's house
and they offered me food, I wasn't allowed to say yes.
- They don't send you to someones house
if you're not already fed.
- There was a warning outside,
(speaking foreign language)
- Yeah if you had to go to the bathroom you just did this.
- She would always make me eat before
we got to somebody's house just so it doesn't
look like we're hungry when we go to somebody else's house.
Its the worse,
(speaking foreign language)
and then they offer you what you want,
and you do this, like Mom they offered
what's the rule there?
- Another thing, you can not open the refrigerator,
(speaking foreign language)
its not your refrigerator.
Every non-latino person, you gotta listen up son,
cause I'm saving your life.
- They drive us crazy with expectations
of who they want us to be.
They always want us to be a certain type of weight,
our hair's supposed to look a certain type of way,
our outfit's are supposed to look a certain way,
but also that's just how they were raised,
that's probably what their parents did to them.
- I was lucky because my parents led by example,
so they where always on point,
they always had matching outfits.
- When I was younger she would dress me,
so my clothes where always tip-top.
Once I started dressing for myself
she would always very much disagree on what I was wearing.
- When I was really into my gothic days,
I just loved wearing black
but my parents really got concerned, they where like,
(speaking foreign language)
- Like when my beard started growing it was just
shave it, shave it, shave it.
- My mom, if I went to church without any makeup on,
she would throw shade at me.
She'd be like you couldn't even put lipstick on?
- My mom does it all the time.
She doesn't even say hi.
Once she'd walk into the house she'd say,
(speaking foreign language)
- I love that my parents let me love my hair.
My dad was always like wear it big don't cut it.
(speaking foreign language)
- If I'm not presentable my mom ignores me out in public.
She acts like she don't know me.
She walks past me I be like Mommy!
I'll run to her,
(speaking foreign language)
- They wanted me to always look presentable,
because they really privileged being a classy family
just looking nice and being well mannered and
you know just looking well groomed and stuff.
- Latinos live on everybody else's opinion.
- She would put the music on blasting,
we'd wake up on a Saturday morning
and I would hear that Spanish music, and I'm like
ugh my God this is it.
- I had to vacuum, my brother had to clean the furniture,
my sister had to clean the bathrooms.
(speaking foreign language)
- Any of my sisters will tell you
I was the bathroom cleaner.
- I definitely grew up in a house
that was very neat and tidy.
To this day I'm a very neat and tidy person.
- You gotta clean that shit to your mom's liking.
I wake up I make my bed and my place
would look clean and my mom would walk in,
(speaking foreign language)
I thought it was clean.
- It's helped me a lot now because
I am very clean and organized, and I make sure
that everything is in its place.
(speaking foreign language)
- We grew up to become adults that carry a lot of
their traditions plenty of their trauma.
- If I was disrespectful or I acted out of line
or whatever it was, I would get some
good spankings that I still remember.
We laugh about them now.
(speaking foreign language)
- That's a latino thing, cocotazos.
- We got our asses whooped, but you
know we probably deserved it.
- My dad was quick with it too
when nobody was looking he went boop!
But also hopefully a lot of their love.
- I absolutely carry everything of my parents
with me today.
- I definitely tell myself all the time
that I'm my mom's twin.
- I get my outgoing ness, my fun, my passion, from my mom
and then I get my logic from my dad.
I feel like I have the perfect balance of my mom and my dad.
- I feel like I'm so influenced by my parents
in all the right ways.
I feel like I won the lottery with who my parents are,
and I'm thankful every day.
- My parents definitely played a big part in who I am today.
Thank you Mammi and Pappi.
(speaking foreign language)
thank you for being so hard on me,
y'all made me tough son!
- Mom you did an amazing job raising me and
I couldn't be happier.
- Latino parents are the best parents, period.
- Let's be real, parents don't actually know what the,
(beep)
their doing, I don't care how many books you've read,
how many videos you've watched on YouTube,
parents are always learning.
Parents were once your age, and then they were my age,
and then they became super old once they had your ass,
but hopefully we can all get to a space where we can
look back at the way they raised us
the good, the bad, and the ugly
and realize that they probably all meant well.
So go ahead give them a call.
Tell them that you love them.
Text them, call them, email them, throw a pigeon in the air.
(laughing)
no matter where you are in your own spiritual journey
hopefully you can come to a place
where you can look back and kinda commend
your parents and really love them for all that they were.
Anyways, I hope your doing good.
I hope you're having a good day.
Adios!
(speaking foreign language)
(mariachi music)
(laughing)