Working for a Living

One public park in Mexico City was, at the time of our visit, entirely occupied by dog trainers and their charges:


There appeared to be several different "grades" of classes, with some dogs operating at a higher, more independent level than others, each taught by a separate teacher.

This is both good for the dogs (one assumes) and an example of a vibrant entrepreneurialism we noticed throughout Mexico.

We saw very few abject beggars there, but a lot of people trying to scrape out a living in one way or another, if only by selling trinkets or home-cooked food in the park or on the street. (Or on the subway, where the good of choice seems to be pirated CDs, advertised by young men wearing boomboxes on their backs. Typically there will be one such vendor in each car, which makes for a deafening ride.)

In fact, signs prohibiting "walking vendors" in public places are quite common, even though the vendors are not typically aggressive (except for the boombox guys).

Mexicans may consider them annoying, but I found it a sign of a healthy society.