Respect for the Rights of Others

The Dodge Charger roars to life at 10:30 PM. Again. My neighbor's teenager revs the engine. That modified exhaust echoes off every house on our quiet street. The sound pierces through walls, through windows, through any attempt at evening peace.

I lie in bed, jaw clenched. Why? Why gun it while parked? Why at this hour? One of the families on our street owns more cars than they have driveway space. They line our street daily. Fine. It's public property. But this noise, this deliberate announcement of his presence...

I catch myself mid-rage and almost laugh. Here I am, fuming about respect, while those words from childhood echo: El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz (Respect for the rights of others is peace).

Benito Juárez spoke these words over a century ago. Mexico's first indigenous president, who rose from poverty to lead the nation through one of its most turbulent periods, understood something about coexistence. As a kid in Mexico, I saw his words everywhere. Carved on monuments, painted on school walls. They made sense then.