(border links) Report on Faux Borders

 Adrienne White

Border Report

      Without actually visiting the border between Arizona and Mexico, anyone living in Phoenix can visit faux borders right in town. These faux borders are scattered throughout various areas in Phoenix and it’s suburbs. Upon delivering pizza to both the upper middle class neighborhoods and the faux border areas, I have learned many things about two separate cultures. There are many ways to tell where the “divide” begins. I have experienced this myself as a pizza delivery driver.

      The first way that I know that I have ventured into the border area is by simply observing my surroundings. The non- border area that I deliver to is what Americans would call upper middle class. This area looks very clean and upkept. In this area you can tell that people have money. Compared to this, the border area is dirty, lawns are dry, old broken down cars litter the streets, and it just seems dead. I can tell that when I am in this area, people don’t have the money to keep their houses or apartments in good condition. The second thing that can single out a border area is culture. The faux border that I deliver to is mostly a Spanish-speaking neighborhood. It is in this neighborhood that I must practice my Spanish skills, because hardly anyone speaks English, and if they do, very little. As I drive my car through the neighborhood, I can hear families speaking their own language, as if they never left home. I also pass several stores with signs only in Spanish. It feels as if I am already in Mexico. The last way for me to know that I am in the faux border area is by social differences. When I drive in the upper-middle class neighborhood I can see children playing with things that I will probably never see the kids from the faux border area playing with because they simply can’t afford it. These kids are happy with what they have, even if it is only a matchbox car. Another major social difference is in the numbers. The numbers in the faux border area are easily double that of a family living in the upper middle class area. People in the faux border area simply can’t afford to have their family spread between two households. This is why when I deliver to a home in the faux border area, I often see twice, if not three times the living capacity of a home being occupied. There are some other small details in social differences that really make a faux border stand out. These include, from what I have seen, musical taste, ethnic food, large gatherings of people outside and in the streets, and even single people selling hand-made goods.

      I have been to many areas in Phoenix that are representative of this faux border flavor. I know that when I venture into these areas I can expect a variety of different things from what I notice in my own neighborhood. I even change my behavior so not to be disrespectful, but hospitable. It is interesting that an entire different culture, or diaspora can exist in your own hometown. After delivering to two distinctly different areas, I can appreciate the culture differences, and I know always how to spot a faux border.

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