• Home
    • Get the Podcasts
    • About
      • Contact Latinopia.com
      • Copyright Credits
      • Production Credits
      • Research Credits
      • Terms of Use
      • Teachers Guides
  • Art
    • LATINOPIA ART
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Film/TV
    • LATINOPIA CINEMA
    • LATINOPIA SHOWCASE
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Food
    • LATINOPIA FOOD
    • COOKING
    • RESTAURANTS
  • History
    • LATINOPIA EVENT
    • LATINOPIA HERO
    • TIMELINES
    • BIOGRAPHY
    • EVENT PROFILE
    • MOMENT IN TIME
    • DOCUMENTS
    • TEACHERS GUIDES
  • Lit
    • LATINOPIA WORD
    • LATINOPIA PLÁTICA
    • LATINOPIA BOOK REVIEW
    • PIONEER AMERICAN LATINA AUTHORS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Music
    • LATINOPIA MUSIC
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Theater
    • LATINOPIA TEATRO
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Blogs
    • Angela’s Photo of the Week
    • Arnie & Porfi
    • Bravo Road with Don Felípe
    • Burundanga Boricua
    • Chicano Music Chronicles
    • Fierce Politics by Dr. Alvaro Huerta
    • Mirándolo Bien with Eduado Díaz
    • Political Salsa y Más
    • Mis Pensamientos
    • Latinopia Guest Blogs
    • Tales of Torres
    • Word Vision Harry Gamboa Jr.
    • Julio Medina Serendipity
    • ROMO DE TEJAS
    • Sara Ines Calderon
    • Ricky Luv Video
    • Zombie Mex Diaries
    • Tia Tenopia
  • Podcasts
    • Louie Perez’s Good Morning Aztlán
    • Mark Guerrero’s ELA Music Stories
    • Mark Guerrero’s Chicano Music Chronicles
      • Yoga Talk with Julie Carmen

latinopia.com

Latino arts, history and culture

  • Home
    • Get the Podcasts
    • About
      • Contact Latinopia.com
      • Copyright Credits
      • Production Credits
      • Research Credits
      • Terms of Use
      • Teachers Guides
  • Art
    • LATINOPIA ART
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Film/TV
    • LATINOPIA CINEMA
    • LATINOPIA SHOWCASE
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Food
    • LATINOPIA FOOD
    • COOKING
    • RESTAURANTS
  • History
    • LATINOPIA EVENT
    • LATINOPIA HERO
    • TIMELINES
    • BIOGRAPHY
    • EVENT PROFILE
    • MOMENT IN TIME
    • DOCUMENTS
    • TEACHERS GUIDES
  • Lit
    • LATINOPIA WORD
    • LATINOPIA PLÁTICA
    • LATINOPIA BOOK REVIEW
    • PIONEER AMERICAN LATINA AUTHORS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Music
    • LATINOPIA MUSIC
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Theater
    • LATINOPIA TEATRO
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Blogs
    • Angela’s Photo of the Week
    • Arnie & Porfi
    • Bravo Road with Don Felípe
    • Burundanga Boricua
    • Chicano Music Chronicles
    • Fierce Politics by Dr. Alvaro Huerta
    • Mirándolo Bien with Eduado Díaz
    • Political Salsa y Más
    • Mis Pensamientos
    • Latinopia Guest Blogs
    • Tales of Torres
    • Word Vision Harry Gamboa Jr.
    • Julio Medina Serendipity
    • ROMO DE TEJAS
    • Sara Ines Calderon
    • Ricky Luv Video
    • Zombie Mex Diaries
    • Tia Tenopia
  • Podcasts
    • Louie Perez’s Good Morning Aztlán
    • Mark Guerrero’s ELA Music Stories
    • Mark Guerrero’s Chicano Music Chronicles
      • Yoga Talk with Julie Carmen
You are here: Home / Blogs / ZOMBIE MEX DIARIES 7.22.12 “HOW I LEARNED ABOUT LYING”

ZOMBIE MEX DIARIES 7.22.12 “HOW I LEARNED ABOUT LYING”

July 23, 2012 by JT

When I was twelve years old I joined the Boy Scouts and that’s when I learned about lying and just how difficult it was going to be for me to be a Mexican zombie AND a Boy Scout.

One day when I was walking home from school, by myself as usual, I saw an middle-aged man sweeping outside the front of the Presbyterian Church on Griffin Avenue. He noticed me passing by and shouted out.

“Hello, young man!”

Well that stopped me. First thing I thought was that perhaps my make-up had begun to fade. I checked my arm and hands and they looked fine–no white zombie pale skin.  He was too far away to be able to sniff my death smell even if the deodorant I was wearing wasn’t doing the job.  What did he want?

“Yes sir,” I replied.

“Are you interested in becoming a Boy Scout?”

“Boy Scout?” I asked.

Truth to tell, this was the first time I had even heard of the scouts and really didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Sure,” he said, “The Boy Scouts of America!” He pointed to the glass case in front of the church where each week’s sermons were posted. This time the announcement was “New Boy Scout Troop forming now!”

Well, the next week I attended my first Boy Scout meeting. The Scoutmaster was the same man who had called out to me, Mr. Brown. Turns out he was also the minister at the church ( that’s where we held our meetings) and was originally from England. He spoke with a funny accent.

Anyway, Mr. Brown had recruited about a dozen of us Mexican kids in Lincoln Heights to form Troop 22. I liked all the kids in the troop except for Danny Betances, the tough kid from my seventh grade homeroom. Yeah, even Danny Betances had signed up–surprised me he was even interested. Anyway, that first meeting Mr. Brown told us all about how Lord Baden-Powell, another guy from England, had started the scout movement a lot of years ago and then how it had spread to the United States. Mr. Brown had a real good sense of humor and was always making jokes. He explained to us all about merit badges and how we would be going out on camping trips. And THAT really interested me.

Camping! I had never been out in the woods and had always dreamed of hiking and playing in a real river, not like the Los Angeles river that bordered Lincoln Heights–that was just a cement slab with a trickle of water running through it. I went there sometimes looking for dead cats to nibble on.

That first night, Mr. Brown had us memorize the scout oath about always doing your best, and helping other people at all times, and keeping yourself “physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.”

“Being physically strong,” Mr. Brown explained, “means taking care of your body and eating right. Staying mentally awake means learning all you can, being curious, asking questions! And being morally straight,” he continued, “means living your life with honesty, clean in speech and actions and being a person of strong character.”

Well, I’d have no problem keeping myself physically strong–I ate well, even though my diet was a bit different from what most kids ate. And I was naturally curious and really interested in learning new things. But I wanted to know about have a strong character. So I asked Mr. Brown about this.

“It’s simple,” he said. “You must not think bad thoughts, and you must not lie–either by commission or omission.”

“What does that mean?” I wanted to know.

“Well, Lazaro, “ he explained, “There are two ways of lying. You can tell an outright lie. If someone asks you “Did you steal that candy bar from the store.” And you did steal it, but you say, “No, I didn’t steal that candy bar from the store,” then that’s a lie of commission. You committed the lie.”

“A lie of omission,” he went on, “is one where you don’t say anything but you lead people to believe something that isn’t so. Like if someone asks, “who stole the candy bar from the store?” And if you don’t say anything even though you know it was your friend, then that’s a lie of omission. You omitted telling the truth. By not saying that it was your friend who stole the candy bar, you omitted telling the truth. But it’s still a lie.”

And that’s where I was stumped. Of course, all my life I had kept secret the fact that I was a zombie. That I was not really a normal kid, but a dead boy walking around without a heartbeat. Heck my whole life was a lie! By not telling anyone, I was letting people believe something that was not true, that I was a normal human kid. And that definitely qualified as a lie of omission.

This bothered me for several days. I really wanted to be a Boy Scout and I had taken the Scout Oath and had promised to be morally straight. But here I was lying everyday. I was breaking the Scout Oath everyday!

The next week after our scout meeting, as all the other kids were going home, I asked Mr. Brown what would happen if when you told the truth a lot of people would get hurt? Didn’t that work against the idea of helping all people at all times?  What would happen if not telling something didn’t hurt anyone?

“Ah,” he said taking his time to think. “Well, that what you call a little white lie. That’s a lie that you tell that doesn’t hurt anyone or make a whole lot of difference.”

“Have you broken the Scout Oath if you tell a white lie?” I asked.

“If no one gets hurt, and if telling a white lie allows you to help other people at all times, then I guess it’s okay. But you can’ t make a habit of lying. Lazaro, is there some white lie that you’ve told me that’s bothering you?”

I thought of what he had just said, if a white lie allows you to help other people at all times then it’s okay.  I knew that if I told Mr. Brown the truth about being a zombie, I’d probably get kicked out of the troop. And then I wouldn’t be able to help other people at all times.

“No,” I replied with confidence, “ I didn’t tell no white lies. I was just curious. You know I was just being mentally awake!”

And that’s how I learned that my whole life would be just a little white lie.

____________________________________________________

Copyright 2012 Lazaro De La Tierra and Barrio Dog Productions Inc.

Filed Under: Blogs, Zombie Mex Diaries Tagged With: Chicano zombies, Latino zombies, Mexican zombies, zombie mex diaries, Zombies

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT 01.28.23 CRYSTAL CITY 1969

January 27, 2023 By wpengine

An Inspiring Latino Play: Crystal City 1969 David Lozano and Raul Trevino wrote Crystal City 1969 in 2009, a production which The Dallas Morning News called the “Best New Play” of 2009. Residents from Crystal City learned of its success by word of mouth, but individuals who contributed to the school walkouts that permanently transformed […]

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT 01.20.23 OSCAR ALVARADO MASTER MOSAIC ARTIST

January 20, 2023 By wpengine

Oscar Alvarado: Latino Master Artist of Tile Mosaic On most days of the year, Oscar Alvarado steps out of the warehouse at his San Antonio Southtown studio, spaces that he shares with his twin brother Robert, to look over sections of nearly two acres filled with sand, tile, rock, glass, and steel. He treasures the […]

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT AL RENDON AN ACCLAIMED LATINO PHOTOGRAPHER

January 14, 2023 By wpengine

Al Rendon: A Highly Acclaimed Latino Photographer Every American City has its favorite photographer who is able to produce revealing imagery that captures the mind and soul of its people, that documents the cultural attributes of its society, and that reveals the historical aspects of the region’s landscape. Large cities with diverse populations count on […]

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT JOSÉ ESQUIVAL A CHICANO TRAILBLAZER

January 7, 2023 By wpengine

José Esquivel: A Chicano Art Trailblazer José Esquivel, one of the founding members of the Chicano art movement in America, passed away on December 16, 2022. He was 87 years old. A memorial to Esquivel is planned for Tuesday evening, January 3rd at the Centro Cultural Aztlan. Through his paintings Esquivel documented life in his […]

More Posts from this Category

New On Latinopia

LATINOPIA EVENT 1966 UFW PEREGRINACIÓN (PILGRIMAGE) MARCH

By Tia Tenopia on March 19, 2013

The effort to organize farm workers under a union contract has been a long and difficult struggle. In 1965, César Chávez and Dolores Huerta created what would become the United Farm Workers Union. From the onset they  faced many obstacles, not the least of which was how to get dozens of California grape growers to […]

Category: History, LATINOPIA EVENT

LATINOPIA MUSIC ANGELA ROA “TOCO DESAFINADO”

By Tia Tenopia on June 22, 2014

Angela Roa is a Chilean singer and lyricist residing in Los Angeles, California. Her songs are about the Latino experience in the United States and in Latin America. Here she performs an original song, “Toco Desafinado” (Out of Tune). She is accompanied by Fernando Losada, Rich Silva and Thiago Winterstein..

Category: LATINOPIA MUSIC, Music

LATINOPIA MUSIC LOS FABULOCOS “UNA PURA Y DOS CON SAL”

By Tia Tenopia on January 4, 2015

Delta Groove Music recording artist Los FabuLocos is a Southern California band whose unique sound, “Cali-Mex,”is a fusion of blues, Americana and Chicano soul music. Band members include Jesús Cuevas, accordion and vocals; Rubén Guaderama, guitar,bajo sexto, tres and vocals; James Barrios, bass and vocals; Mike Molina, drums and Kid Ramos, guitar( not in this […]

Category: LATINOPIA MUSIC, Music

© 2023 latinopia.com · Pin It - Genesis - WordPress · Admin