Post by rosa on Jan 19, 2009 6:02:16 GMT -7
Local columnist Ramon Renteria did a nice job with this article. I was having trouble with the article he'd written about Joe Olvera until I saw this, and I have to say that I wasn't aware it had spilled over into talk radio either. That wasn't very smart, number one. Number two, I'm going to assume that those on the radio who trashed this lady have their own ministries going
Commentary: 'Extreme Makeover' recipient undeserving of trash talk
Ramón Rentería / El Paso Times
Posted: 01/18/2009 08:51:11 AM MST
EL PASO -- Comedian George Lopez jokes about how Mexicans always bring each other down, how we can't stand to see someone else achieve anything without being critical.
So it's not a big surprise that ugly expressions of contempt rained down hard on Lower Valley resident Maria Ruiz when the ABC network reality show "Extreme Makeover" selected her family last week as the lucky recipients of a new $200,000 house.
It was a good year for Ruiz, an El Paso native who has been feeding the poor in Juárez since 1996 and trying to make life better for Mexican children and their families and orphans with her own charitable ministry, often at great personal sacrifice.
Ruiz's work went mostly unnoticed until Atlanta-based CNN selected her last year as a finalist for its Hero of the Year Award. She didn't win the top prize, but the city of El Paso honored her with a hero's proclamation and rally.
In December, Ruiz and her two children beamed with pride when her husband, Jesus, became a naturalized United States citizen. His only regret: that he couldn't vote yet in his first presidential election.
Maria Ruiz must feel fortunate, very grateful for so many blessings in her life.
Then a few days ago, the trash talkers clogged the Internet message boards with their vicious verbal venom. El Paso's talk-radio listeners chimed in with their own twisted perceptions.
They all repeated what many of us said in our homes, beauty salons, barbershops and neighborhood coffeehouses. They accused Ruiz of being on welfare, made fun of her for helping others at the expense of her own family. They said she should instead help people on this side of the border.
Like many of us, they said other families in El Paso were even more deserving. Then they saw Maria's two-story house on the television news and said her existing house was even more attractive and more expensive than their own.
The metiches, the buttinskis, are no longer just our neighbors looking out the window. With the Internet, they hide behind nicknames in Albuquerque, Austin, Philadelphia and in Georgia or Colorado. The BS starts in El Paso and spreads like an obnoxious virus across the United States.
Nancy Ellis, an Indiana volunteer who met Maria Ruiz while helping build houses for poor people in Juárez, posted the most sensible message: "I'm sorry so many people are so bitter in this world. Every day, they (the Ruizes) are filled with joy at being able to do this work for others."
Ruiz and her family are building an orphanage in Juárez for 100 children, a kitchen for feeding 500 people and a trade school.
Maria Ruiz deserves our applause for her unselfish devotion to others and for bringing positive national attention to El Paso.
Nothing can taint her generous heart, not even our own petty jealousies.
Ramón Rentería may be reached at rrenteria@elpasotimes.com;546-6146.
Commentary: 'Extreme Makeover' recipient undeserving of trash talk
Ramón Rentería / El Paso Times
Posted: 01/18/2009 08:51:11 AM MST
EL PASO -- Comedian George Lopez jokes about how Mexicans always bring each other down, how we can't stand to see someone else achieve anything without being critical.
So it's not a big surprise that ugly expressions of contempt rained down hard on Lower Valley resident Maria Ruiz when the ABC network reality show "Extreme Makeover" selected her family last week as the lucky recipients of a new $200,000 house.
It was a good year for Ruiz, an El Paso native who has been feeding the poor in Juárez since 1996 and trying to make life better for Mexican children and their families and orphans with her own charitable ministry, often at great personal sacrifice.
Ruiz's work went mostly unnoticed until Atlanta-based CNN selected her last year as a finalist for its Hero of the Year Award. She didn't win the top prize, but the city of El Paso honored her with a hero's proclamation and rally.
In December, Ruiz and her two children beamed with pride when her husband, Jesus, became a naturalized United States citizen. His only regret: that he couldn't vote yet in his first presidential election.
Maria Ruiz must feel fortunate, very grateful for so many blessings in her life.
Then a few days ago, the trash talkers clogged the Internet message boards with their vicious verbal venom. El Paso's talk-radio listeners chimed in with their own twisted perceptions.
They all repeated what many of us said in our homes, beauty salons, barbershops and neighborhood coffeehouses. They accused Ruiz of being on welfare, made fun of her for helping others at the expense of her own family. They said she should instead help people on this side of the border.
Like many of us, they said other families in El Paso were even more deserving. Then they saw Maria's two-story house on the television news and said her existing house was even more attractive and more expensive than their own.
The metiches, the buttinskis, are no longer just our neighbors looking out the window. With the Internet, they hide behind nicknames in Albuquerque, Austin, Philadelphia and in Georgia or Colorado. The BS starts in El Paso and spreads like an obnoxious virus across the United States.
Nancy Ellis, an Indiana volunteer who met Maria Ruiz while helping build houses for poor people in Juárez, posted the most sensible message: "I'm sorry so many people are so bitter in this world. Every day, they (the Ruizes) are filled with joy at being able to do this work for others."
Ruiz and her family are building an orphanage in Juárez for 100 children, a kitchen for feeding 500 people and a trade school.
Maria Ruiz deserves our applause for her unselfish devotion to others and for bringing positive national attention to El Paso.
Nothing can taint her generous heart, not even our own petty jealousies.
Ramón Rentería may be reached at rrenteria@elpasotimes.com;546-6146.