Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Fill (with) more (latinos)

yesterday, i was in Fillmore to retrieve my dog. you take highway 23 all the way through Moorpark, a cute but older community with new tract housing. as you wind through olive and grape vineyards, the scenery is beautiful. then suddenly you find yourself in these mining canyons on a 2 lane highway on the edge of nowhere surrounded on either side with yellowish-white stone. there are huge mountains of grated stone, finer than sand. it's hot. then suddenly, through the farmlands, this town appears, the town of Fillmore. it looks alot like tijuana. lots of latino stores and people. old streets. old town. i think it was founded in the 1800s. so i'm off to find this elusive house where my dog spends her weekends. sequentially, the house does not exist. there are 5 streets of the same name. my dog sitter is somehow unable to give me directions to her house although i've listed many landmarks. she warned me earlier i wouldn't be able to find her house because it was behind other homes. she phones her mother-in-law to see if she could bring me my dog. she says her mother in law can't leave her house right then because the cops were searching her block for illegal fireworks. so i decide to go to the police department. i ask them where i could find her address. they point me to where i've been. sequentially that house number did not exist. i inform the cop that right now, some of his people are searching that neighborhood. he tells me none of his men are searching that neighborhood because they all just got back from a search. he says the most racist but funny and stereotypical thing, "it's probably a probation check." inside, i laugh so hard, although i know i shouldn't. he asks me what the last name is. i give him a classic latino last name and he says, "that doesn't help." then i ask him if he has a map of the town. he whips out the thomas guide and it was totally unhelpful. he then asks me, "are you sure you're in the right town?" i said, yes, fillmore. he says, "people mix up sylmar with fillmore because they sound alike." i said with certainty Fillmore. finally, my dog sitter's mom in law brings me my sleepy pup. i'm still convinced her house doesn't exist. after all, mr. policeman said so. but i do wonder, what if there's a 911 call or emergency at that address? how would they find it? and how did they know where to go to do this "probation check?" :)

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