Text:
“The story I have to tell is an expression that my grandma says. She’s from Guatemala and came to the U.S. in the 80s. The town my grandma is from is really small. The expression that she says is, in Spanish, ‘Look both ways when you cross the street because you don’t know if it’s your dad driving. And even if it is, you don’t know if he’s drunk or not.’ People drink a lot in that little town, and it’s dark.”

Context:
A boy from Pamona, CA sharing a proverb that his grandma and other people from her town use when crossing the street. She is from a small town in Guatemala that has a big drinking culture.

Analysis:
This saying is likely a proverb passed down through generations to educate their children on safety when crossing the road, especially given that the town has such a large drinking culture. This also suggests that there may have been drunk-driving accidents in this town and that it is common for people to drive under the influence. Instead of changing the drinking culture of their community, they turn to educate their children on the risks of drunk driving. This has turned into a folk metaphor, passed down through generations.