Sometimes a CD?Is Just a CD

Why do Mexicans hang CDs from their cars’ rear-view mirrors?

—Poor Use of That Album

Dear PUTA: Any number of reasons. Mexicans love religious tchotchkes — seven separate religious icons guard my car, from a rosary to a St. Jude prayer card to a statue of the Santo Niño de Atocha (venerated in New Mexico and Zacatecas) — so the CD you see dangling might just be a Virgin of Guadalupe minihubcap. Mexicans also like pretty, shiny things — dig all the gold jewelry we hang from our earlobes and necks, our spinning rims and Three Flowers–brilliantined hair. Or Mexicans might hang CDs in an effort to stymie radar guns, a long-disproved urban legend that only proves Mexicans don’t watch the Discovery Channel show MythBusters, which devoted a 2004 episode to debunking that popular belief. But to paraphrase Freud, sometimes a CD is just a CD. Maybe the offending Mexican wants the world to know about his favorite album but can’t fit a sticker on the car because all those pinche bull decals, Calvin-pissing-on-something logos, Mexican flags and “¡Viva México, Cabrones!” license-plate holders get in the way.

Got a spicy question about Mexicans? Ask the Mexican at garellano@ocweekly.com. And those of you who do submit questions: Include a hilarious pseudonym, por favor, or we’ll make one up for you!

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