cost and availability of young men to move stuff, question about gas tank

[laconstance]

I think the situation of how much to pay for work here in México goes beyond what we foreigners think of as "good and fair" in comparison to where we come from. I see my neighbor from time to time over coffee. She has lived her whole life in the house where she lives now. Once, in conversation, I mentioned that a man who had lived in the neighborhood was doing some work for me; she thought he was a bit expensive, but when I told her how much I was paying she thought that was O.K. Then, she asked me how much I pay my housekeeper, and I told her that. She thought that was just right, too. Then she pointed out that when foreigners come in and pay more than the going rate for work, it makes it really hard on the Mexicans! The workers want to charge everyone the "foreigner price" and Mexicans can't pay that.

At the risk of sounding preachy, I believe that foreigners should leave their foreign attitudes at the border and learn to live with the customs of the country they have entered!