It all started some three years ago when my then soon to become wife and I were on a shopping date at Walmart!
I know, a shopping date at Walmart, pretty damn romantic right? Well, she was in need of some toilet paper, and we were still breaking me in to her young teenage daughter.
We were a new couple, and Walmart date night ranked right up ther with Home Depot and Saturday morning garage sales…, which we still do by the way.
She was, and still is a pretty bossy Hispanic woman. I don’t mean a Hispanic-American born in New York or Texas or Southern California, to a Bi-racial, multi-ethnic family either. And no she didn’t use a coyote to get here either. She was born to Hispanic parents in Costa Rica, moved to Panama after her mother’s tragic death when she was a teenager, and later came to the States and became a citizen the old-fashioned way… she studied hard and passed the exam!
Like many of us, she too had survived a nasty divorce (I don’t give a shit who you are, there is no such thing as a pleasant divorce), and was left to raise a child on her own. This fact alone is a tough burden for any woman to handle, but couple that with the fact that she was a Hispanic woman (not yet a citizen), living in America, spoke little English, and her ex was mentally ill. (Even before the recession began, Census data showed that nearly one-quarter of Hispanic children relied on their mothers alone to sustain the family.) She is one tough bitch!
Anyway, back to Walmart. I remember that we were walking down the back aisle of the store, and she was directing us to grab something from one of the end caps (did I mention that she was pretty bossy?), and I replied quickly and without reservation, “Yes, Mami”! At the time I honestly did not know a lot about Hispanic culture, nor was I aware that calling a Hispanic woman ‘Mami’ was indeed a term of endearment.
From the Urban Dictionary, Mami is ‘a spicy, familiar, complementary, and friendly way to refer to a hotass latina lady (best when applied to colombian); to really let her know how much you like her, try calling her "mami chula" -- if she gives half a flying shit about you, she should at least answer back with a "papi chulo". I don’t know about the (best when applied to colombian) part, but I will say that my woman is hot!
Well no sooner did I get ‘Mami’ out of my mouth, did she stop in her tracks, and snap right back with “Ay Papi”, which by the way is pretty damn sexy! She went on to explain to me the use of these two slangs in her culture. Like I said, at the time I didn’t know that I was being cool or worldly by calling her ‘Mami’. I was just being a clown (payaso)!
She started calling me ‘Papi’ all the time after that (among other things) and added the ever popular ‘Papi Chulo’ to the list. Urban Dictionary say’s that the ‘Papi Chulo’is “a witty, attractive, charming confident man”. I can’t argue with the facts people! Moreover,”He is the Man you want to ask: Where you been at all my life? But then you realize that he came at the excact moment u needed him. He's the guy that makes you feel like a woman & he makes u feel like u want to be your Best”.
I’ve never met a more passionate woman in all my years, and I mean passionate in every meaning and essence of the word. She is beautiful, and sexy, as well as sensitive and hot-tempered. She is as fiesty and unpredictable as all those Latina steriotypes can be, but these are the least important of all her traits.
She loves my lily-white-gringo-ass, and she calls ME Papi!
(This article originally appeared on The Real Man's Journal)
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