The "Missing" License Plate

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

The rain and flooding continue to plague us. Here on the ranch those that continually build along the rivers with the excuse that they have no money or other place to go seem to put themselves and their children in harms way. This area has been devastated again and we now have implemented the plan DN-II. The military is here to help out those that are trapped or have lost their homes and to prevent "rapiña" or "saqueos" (looting).

As I have said before, no one is exempt from nature because of their social or economic status. Los Cristales which sits about 8 kms to the north is an exclusive gated community. Doesn't matter now if it were gated or not. The gates were torn from their hinges and are now somewhere south of the area and buried below the riverbed. The neighborhood is "incomunicado" and there is no getting in or out. Children and spouses who left for work and school yesterday morning are now in hotels or relatives homes and their wives and mothers are sitting in their gated community by themselves. I feel sorry for everyone, but when we purchased our house the first thing we did when we looked at it was to check the construction and the level compared to flood charts supplied by the city and state. That isn't a guarantee either but a little common sense goes a long way.

Oh, right, the license plate. Well, with all the rain I must have picked up a nail. I saw the tire was going flat so I stopped by the vulka on my way into town to see a movie "Hidalgo", a Mexican film about our Independence hero. While they were changing the tire a muchacho said, "did you lose your plate?". Oh shit! The front plate was missing but the screws were there. Another friendly thief. He didn't rip it off or damage the bumper, he took his time to remove the screws and put them back in place after he did his dirty deed.

With what is going on around here you don't want to wait to long to report a stolen plate. Was this going to be a nightmare? Not at all. We went to the ministero publico in our town, filed a report, turned in copies of identification, our tag and plate payment for 2010. The report was signed, we went upstairs to the licensing department with the rear plate in hand only to find out they close at 1:30. We drove to Monterrey, walked into the state treasury department, paid the fees, turned in the copies and the rear plate and we were done.

I can swear to you, the state of Texas couldn't do it any faster. If the rest of Mexico and the state of Nuevo Leon would take note at what our treasury department does and how it does it, we would be considered a first world country. We even have treasury offices in malls that are open all day so that people can go before work, during their lunch hour and after work. A driver's license takes less than 15 minutes and you walk out with the license in hand. In Texas, you wait for it in the mail forever.