I started selling my Gringo Latino T-Shirts on my website here earlier this year. And since then, I realized that I needed a “checklist” of sorts to explain the concept and to bump up sales while having fun in the process. So, I turned to writer, comedian and friend Rob Blatt for help.
Muchas gracias Señor Rob for writing today’s guest blog post.
But before we share this Top 10 List…
What exactly is a Gringo Latino?
A Gringo Latino might be someone who is married to a Latina/o, studied Spanish, and/or travelled through Latin America and speaks Spanish (like yours truly). In addition, it could be someone who believes in the fusion of cultures who is truly multicultural and can switch between speaking English and Spanish as well as interact in the respective cultures.
And so, without further ado…
The Top 10 Signs You’ve Become a Gringo Latino:
- You have developed a taste for flan
- When people talk about La Raza, you feel included
- You fantasize about what it would be like to have multiple first and last names
- If your friends cringe when a celebrity tries to sound like a native speaker, you cringe too
- You prefer Gabriel Garcia Marquez in the original.
- You call your nephew from Maine, papi.
- You start thinking your shelves would look better with votive candles
- You scoff at fans of Chivas because that’s “so bandwagon.”
- Tubas don’t seem corny
- Your website features a .soy domain name (No, not for soy food products but rather, “I Am” in Spanish)
On a more serious note, is it possible to write and tell our own stories on our own? Or, is it better to bounce ideas off a friend and confidant…someone who knows our background and can suggest ideas so that it becomes funnier and/or more memorable?
I wrote my own bio for this website, but found it formulaic. Later, I refined it with Maestro Rob to tease out the real story, where we explored my roots and true influences, which evolved into “My Story: Origins and Evolution of a Gringo Latino.” Nevertheless, I left my “Professional Bio” at the top to share for a more serious context.
I call Rob my “Compadre,” which the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines as “a close friend.” But it is more than that. The Urban Dictionary includes a few additional meanings as well as its original etymology (listed as #1):
- Godfather
- A close friend
- A classmate
- A companion in war
- Drinking buddy
Who is your writing and word-smithing “Compadre”? Drop me a line. I would love to hear your story of who you collaborate with and how. Contact me here.
