I am always amazed by the general ignorance about other cultures.
The following cases reflect not only the ignorance but also the lack of patience or indifference shown to the persons involved.
They were in their 20's. She had just delivered her first baby a couple of days before. A friend drove them home with a borrowed car seat. The husband went to Walmart and bought the prettiest one he could find but, as it usually happens and although the mounting instructions had been translated into Spanish, they were useless. The couple was inside the car trying to figure out how to install the car seat and, of course, disagreement immediately arouse. They were yelling at each other in typical "Latino"style: "It goes here", "idiot, on the other side", "I told you to grab the thing", "not like that"...etc... An American neighbor heard them and called the police claiming verbal abuse. She also said "she feared for the baby's safety and well-being". The police showed up followed by Children Protective Services. They took the baby to a foster home for 6 months, the parents had to take anger management classes and prove to the Court that they were fit parents.
2. My child or yours?
Her labor started at 9 am, when her husband was at work. Her sister was also working, so her brother in law drove her to the hospital. He stayed with her until the baby was born. The nurse came with paperwork and when they indicated they didn't speak English she just said "never mind", and left. They asked who he was and he told them his name. When she received the baby's birth certificate, her brother in law had been listed as the father of the baby. Like in a soap opera, the husband thought they were having an affair, the sister thought her husband was a cheater, she hated her sister, and no one stopped to think that it was a mistake. I didn't know how difficult it is to reverse something like this. They had to go to court at least four times, had DNA tests done, affidavits, lawyers fees...
3. Whose name is it?
How difficult is it to understand that we use our father's last name first and then our mother's last name? Rodrigo Gonzalo Perez Salas becomes Rodrigo Salas or Gonzalo Perez. Do they think the other two are titles or something? One of my clients sat in jail for 6 months waiting for the DA to clarify his records. They look up the wrong name and got a police record as thick as the yellow pages. Wrong name, wrong man.
