These are the unwritten rules of Mexico. Part two.
The first unwritten rule of Mexico is to not
use too big of a bill when paying cash.
For example, if buying something for less than 50
pesos, try not to use a 200 peso bill.
If buying something for less than a hundred pesos,
try not to use a 500 peso bill.
Now, if this is all you have, that's
not to say you can't make the purchase,
but be really apologetic, like "una disculpa
solo tengo un billete de quinientos, no tendras cambio?
And then it's probably going to
be okay if they have change.
But try not to make a habit of it because it is
considered rude to use too big of a bill when paying cash.
There are three things that every
Mexican must have in the refrigerator.
Number one, cerveza
Number two, homemade salsa.
And number three, tortillas.
You must have those three things in your refrigerator
to be a legitimate Mexican. And what you must
absolutely not do is use bottled salsa.
Now, this bottled salsa, it has two legitimate uses.
Number one, you can put this on popcorn, or better
yet, it can occupy space in the trash can.
The next unwritten rule of Mexico is that
if you're over at someone's house and they
offer you a drink, you say no.
If they offer you a drink a second time, you say no.
Finally, if they offer you a drink
a third time, you can say yes.
I had been living in Mexico a long time
without hearing about this refusing a drink thing, but
recently someone left a comment on the channel saying
something to this extent that you should refuse twice
and only accept on the third time.
And I asked May
I'm like, "this isn't true, is it?"
"Like, this sounds so crazy to me that you have
to refuse twice and then accept on the third time."
And she's like, "no, I agree with that.
It feels rude to me to accept that on
the first time, unless I'm like, at my parents
house or something, then I can accept a drink."
"But, yeah, if I'm at someone's house who I'm not super
close with, well, then, yeah, I feel like I should refuse
a couple of times, even if it's like a good family
friend's house, I feel like I should refuse a couple of
times, but before I finally say yes."
So this was a total shock to me.
But it's something you should
consider when you're in Mexico.
The next unwritten rule of Mexico is that when
you enter someone else's home, you leave your shoes
on the whole time you're in their house.
The next unwritten rule of Mexico is that shorts should only
be worn by kids, at the beach, or on Sundays.
Aside from that, pants should
be worn pretty much everywhere.
It's not that you can't wear shorts in Mexican cities.
However, if you do, people will know
immediately that you're not from there.
Another unwritten rule of Mexico is that if you're
in somebody's presence, like, let's say you're having a
conversation with them and you want to leave, you
would say "con permiso" or excuse me?
And then they would say back to you, "propio."
Another situation in which you would say,
con permiso is actually something that happened to
me yesterday, and I screwed up.
And I did not say con permiso, but I was in a
store, and I was walking past someone, and there was enough space
for me to get by, but there wasn't a lot of space.
So since I didn't need the person to move,
I didn't say anything, but I should have.
So I walked past a guy, and he turns to me, and in
English, he says in a snarky tone of voice, oh, I'm sorry.
Now, I think his response was kind of rude, but I
should have said, in that case, con permiso, as I was walking
by, even though I could get by without him moving.
Another unwritten rule of Mexico is that you never
put your purse or your bag on the floor.
There's a superstition here that it's really
bad to put that on the floor.
So it's looked at super weird.
Like, let's say you're going out to a restaurant.
You would always put your purse on a chair
or on a bag hook or something like that.
And if you're at a nicer restaurant and you
want them to bring one of those persons over
for you, you can ask them for a perchero.
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In Mexico, if you employ a housekeeper, a nanny, or
some other kind of help, it is considered a huge
cultural faux pas to socialize in public with that person.
Like, you cannot invite that person out for dinner
and go have a meal with them in public.
That is looked at super weird and
is not culturally acceptable at all.
And on this topic, if you're at somebody else's
house who employs help, it is totally unacceptable to
strike up a conversation with that person.
You can ask them for a glass of water
or a cup of coffee, where you should put
your coat, where the nearest bathroom is.
Questions like that are totally fine.
But to strike up a conversation with this person,
ask them where they're from, how long they've been
living here in this city, if they have kids.
Things like that is totally unacceptable.
Here in Mexico, when you're shopping in the US.
When you're done and you're out in the parking lot, you
put your shopping cart in one of those cart corrals.
However, here in Mexico, those
cart corrals don't really exist.
And the grocery stores and the big box stores
will usually have people in the parking lot helping
with the carts, and one of these people will
come and take your cart from you.
Or if you leave it out there, well, then typically
one of them will come get it pretty quickly.
And these people who are in the parking
lot taking your shopping cart will also generally
help you back out of your parking spot.
Like, they'll stop traffic and wave you back.
And it's typically appropriate to give them a
small tip between like two and five pesos.
I always tip these people when they're being helpful.
However, some of them are purposefully an annoyance.
Like, they'll stand directly behind your car so
you can't back out, and then they'll wave
you back, like pretending like they're helping, but
really they're impeding your ability to back out.
So when they're annoying like that, I don't tip
them, but when they actually help me, yes, I'll
throw them a small tip every time.
In various stores around Mexico, there will also
be people out front who will be offering
to assist you to your car.
If you accept their help, they'll push your
cart to your vehicle and then load all
your purchases up into your car.
And in that case, generally, a higher tip
is warranted because they did a lot more
work than simply taking your cart away or
helping you back out of your parking spot.
And on the topic of tipping, it is not customary
to tip taxis or to tip for street food.
But if you're going to a sit down restaurant throughout
Mexico, about 10% of the total bill is a pretty
standard tip for good service and 15% for great service.
I usually try to tip well without
forcing my culture on a different country.
So to do this, I generally tip 15% at
most places because 15% is still within the culturally
expected limits of tipping without doing too much where
you're trying to change the culture.
So, like, if the service is
decent or better, I'll tip 15%.
If the service was bad, typically 10%, and if
the service was horrible, either pocket change or nothing.
But if you're dining at a really cheap
place like a fonda or cocina economica, generally
these places where they have plastic chairs instead
of regular restaurant chairs. Sometimes you're even sharing
a table with other people dining there.
Well, in those cases, tip a minimum of ten
pesos no matter how cheap the meal was.
Another unwritten rule of Mexico is that there are a
lot of people here in this country who view it
as a rude to say no to somebody.
So you'll find yourself in a lot of situations
when you're living here where you'll receive an answer
to a request or a question that feels a
little bit off or feels a little bit weird.
Now, if you ever have that feeling that it
just doesn't feel right, well, that's a good chance
that that was that person's way of saying no
to you without actually saying no.
It was their way of responding to you
in what they consider a polite way.
For example, instead of someone telling you no,
they might say their agenda is full.
Or instead of someone saying "no, sorry, I
can't today," they might say, "today is complicated."
So it's these little ways of answering the question
without saying no that you'll experience quite often.
Or also, there have been a number of times that
I've asked for directions in Mexico, and a few of
those times I've been given completely incorrect directions.
Now, I think these are typically examples of
a time when someone doesn't know the answer,
but they don't want to tell me "no."
So then they just say something instead.
If you want to see more unwritten rules in
Mexico, watch part one of this video right here.