Previous Letters

Hi Robert, First off I would like to say I have never met you or Barry, I've only had the opportunity to read your posts here. I read your post today (twice) in attempt to try to comprehend what you are trying to say, but I have failed to do that. I'm only a retired bus driver with just a high school education, so maybe I'm not capable of comprehending the vocabulary of a much more intelligent man like yourself.

My opinion is that Barry is a humanitarian that openly expresses his concerns, and opinions on how he feels Gringos should be contributing to the betterment of Costa Rica citizens. If you feel any discomfort reading Barry's trumpet blowing comments "as you call them", perhaps it's because you feel guilty in some way, or you just simply do not like people who broadcast their good deeds. It's just my uneducated guess of course.

I too inform people about how much I do help the needy. I think I mention my good deeds so that I can inspire others to do the same thing.
It's not that want people to see me as a saint, nor am I seeking any sort of special recognition. There is no standing on a soap box and shouting for me. After giving so much over many years to charity, I find myself moving to Costa Rica on a shoe string with only a Canadian government pension to survive on. Oops! I'm I'd better stop talking about this subject. I don't want you making self righteous comments about me. The bottom line is "To each his own". Some people feel an obligation to save soles, and feel it’s necessary to try and inspire others to do the same, much like promoting religious beliefs. Then there are others do not want to even hear about charitable activities. That's what I see in the comments between you and Barry. I’m choosing sides,
I think I understand where both of you are coming from.

Barry, Sorry about your self righteous comments. They do not reflect most of we "Gringos" who quietly go about our work doing what we can to improve conditions for ourselves and our friends or families here in Costa Rica. Because we do not go out and herald our trumpets do not mean that the many of us are out there. You may think you are a saint and by the comments of those who respect you, you probably do some good for people yourself, but heroes do not need to sing their own praises..the actions will precede their words. So before you mis-speak again or become so "mis-understood" stop and think if you are shouting out of your own need for recognition and maybe you do not need to be so concerned about the free actions of those who do not want to be like you. Not everyone wants to be you....go figure.....So do your good, let your actions talk for yourself and refocus on what you can do rather than standing on your soapbox and shouting down at all of those below your high position on your own pedestal..it is a long fall for people to topple you off that thing. No one who is doing a "good thing" needs to "clarify their position" if in deed they are not just doing good things for public recognition primarily...Good meaning people will take actions that scream out the good they are doing. If you are coming out of your heart no other recognition is required!

I clarified my position and pointed out the mistake Tico Times made by putting "Gringo go home" instead of my submitted one as the topic heading. Apparently those people whose feathers i really ruffled attacked me with "bigot" and "racist" baloney, simply a smokescreen to cover up their own guilt instead of taking it to heart and contributing instead of spewing angry insults. Of course American companies provide jobs and are beneficial to life here. That's a given,but far from the point i was making."American companies do enough so why should i do anything" is the attitude held by those who can but don't contribute. Let me take a wild guess-----Not one out of the type person i targeted has ever been to La Carpio where people live in abject poverty. I have even brought several American ex-pats there who said how terrible it was that people should have to live that way, and then did nothing. So, keep throwing non-productive insults while those of us who care keep doing without you.

Robert Holloway - Although I may not approve of your choice of words used on Barry "I do agree with you". Look what happened when the US Armed Forces were pushed out of the Philippines. Once the Clark Air Force Base shut down there wasn't a meaningful job left in the country. If it wasn't for American companies operating here in Canada many of us would probably be still cutting down trees with a double edged axe and hunting beaver.

Before the Japanese car companies got here the only decent jobs were with American companies "such as Ford", which is where I worked. There are a lot of people around the world who dislike Americans, but that is not the case in Canada. The only people in Canada that have negative comments about Americans are the massive number of immigrants we take in every year. We Canadian born families of Canada's European founding settlers know that US companies operating here have been a good thing for decades.

Wal-Mart has about 158 stores in Costa Rica, can you imagine how many jobs they've created for the Tico people. Now Ticos can also finally purchase electronic equipment at reasonable prices. Although some big headed Americans do drive around Costa Rica flaunting their wealth, and make it bad for the rest of us Gringos, I still think US companies are very much needed in Costa Rica. My wife and I have small Canadian flag crests sewn on most of our clothing to let the locals know we are not Americans. Better to be safe than sorry. Okay, who did I cheese off today with my truthful comments?

Barry, Besides your obvious intolerance for cultural differences, your obvious stupidity of economic reality is non existent as well. Let's see now, so all multi cultural Grino companies go home, got it...Good bye Intel, Microsoft, Proctor and Gamble, Amazon, and a plethora of other mega large companies that employ good Ticos to work in their companies. One sport book alone employs well over 1,500 employees...tell the employees they are underpaid there, and then ask why there are nurses, teachers, attorneys and even doctors working in some sport books...it is because they can make more money there than anything offered to them in their own professions. Let us see if the economy could even survive if all Gringos went home....the majority of larger employers here are "Grino" owned companies that contribute so much to this economy that without them Costa Rica would be a lot different place to live in and you would not be carrying around your I Pads, I phones, flat screen t.v.s, stereo systems, oh yes, how about all those cars that come from America that fill the streets. Think about what you wish for before you exert your obvious lack of uninformed intellect on the world. You are a bigot just like we find in all countries, Mr. Schwartz, you want the benefits offered to you but you do not want the benefactors...go get a life!

Many Canadian seniors live in Costa Rica full time because they cannot afford to live in Canada, especially those trying to survive on government pensions. Others make the move to escape the growing police state in Canada, and because excessive immigration has destroyed their quality of life. It is sad to see big headed Gringos flaunting their wealth and looking down on Ticos, but I think they represent a small percentage of Expats. Most of us love the Tico people, and we feel bad that some of them do not like us in their country, as we bring them no harm, financially or otherwise. In Canada it's the opposite, with government spending 23 Billion a year to house, educate, and feed the 250,000 immigrants Canada takes in each year. My goal is to treat Ticos with the utmost respect, contribute what I can to the schools, and hope they continue to allow my wife and I to live peacefully in their wonderful country.

Come on Barry.......not ALL expats are like this......some of us are doing it right, providing a good living for many Costa Rican families and paying our dues by the law. There's more than just "those few retirees" as you stated.....

Malcontent??? Looks like it takes one to know one. The venom I see spewing makes it appear that this article was written by an uneducated malcontent himself and sending it to a public forum is typical behaviour for someone looking to make an issue out of nothing.

Jessica, don't fall into his trap. You seem to be a smart individual but giving this war-mongerer the support by saying it is motivational at its root, makes you appear naive. That may be what he says to you now, but that is not what he satated in the article. If that is what he meant to do, then he should retract the rhetoric and resubmit appropriately. I doubt Schwartz knows how to do that because at its root, I believe he meant to make an issue out of nothing.

I am a Canadian here in Costa Rica and I have many tico friends. I feel it is important to clear up a common misconception by many travellers to Costa Rica. According to local people I know here, the term "gringo" refers only to Americans from the United States of America. Gringos are not Canadians, nor are they Europeans in the eyes of Costa Ricans (and most other Latin American countries)! Locals do not have a term for a person from the United States due to the fact that they believe all people who live in the "americas" (be it North, Central or South) are called Americans! They can call people from Canada Canadians, they can call people from Germany Germans, etc. but it doesn't work in their language to call people from the US Americans....therefore they are gringo's. On the subject of malcontents, we have travelled to many countries in the world and I agree that there are good and bad from every walk of life, background, ethnicity who try to take advantage and not learn from the places they visit or live. The problem is not a group of people but a way of materialistic thinking that sadly has taken over the bulk of the world population......too many are on the sprint setting of the hedonic treadmill to keep up with the Jones'!

You should be ashamed for perpetuating racism and ignorance. The Tico Times should be ashamed of providing a venue for such rhetoric as it truly discredits their professionalism in journalism.

I could pick out any group of people based on an ethnic or socioeconomic label and find examples of bad individuals within that group. Unsavory gringos happen as do unsavory folks from all walks of life.

You've exemplified the kind of concrete-operational thinking that lies at the root of some of the greater social injustices of this age.

Unless you're just trolling message boards for fun and sport, don't draw a circle around people based on the color of their skin or the place they didn't choose to be born and an easy-to-hate stereotype. Why would you indirectly encourage discrimination against potentially innocent folks?

Seriously, go do a little reading on ethnic cleansing, consider the common behavior that lies at its infant roots, and ask yourself if you want to be the kind of person that provides fodder for discrimination and hatred in the general population.