Living in Mexico: Craziness in Gringolandia

Let me say right off the bat if you find this article entertaining, you really must come back and look at the "reader's comments" that will undoubtedly follow in the next few days. There is a covey of Gringos in Mexico who, though professing to hate me, can't seem to stay away from the things I write. The titles I use seem to draw them and make them hysterical. They curse me soundly and wish my death (I am not kidding) and yet they will click on my articles. The funny thing about this is, in one of the venues where I am published; I get paid for each click. Don't you love karma?

I was wondering if the statistics for the rate of mental illness in America translates to the little Americas gringos create when moving to Mexico. A Washington Post staff writer observed in his article, "Study: U.S. Leads In Mental Illness, Lags in Treatment" (Tuesday, June 7, 2005):

"One-quarter of all Americans met the criteria for having a mental illness within the past year, and fully a quarter of those had a "serious" disorder that significantly disrupted their ability to function day to day, according to the largest and most detailed survey of the nation's mental health, published yesterday."

Of course, my nasty critics will claim I fall into that "one-quarter" of mentally ill Americans and wish me death because of it.

I mean, really. What gets into the heads of my fellow Americans that causes them to respond the way the do to the articles I write in which I express my opinions?They wish for my death and send me cryptic messages through anonymous email services that hint there is a plot to "do me in."

Seriously, is it because some of that "One-Quarter" of the mentally ill Americans have moved to Mexico and taken up residence in their Gringolandias and have nothing better to do? Is the threatening me for my "free expression" of mere opinions the only channel for their free expression of their insanity?

Isn't mental illness the only viable and probable explanation for this behavior?