A few years ago, I was shocked when I saw in our streets a bunch of odd-looking people on small motorcycles doing stunts in the middle of one of our main avenues in the city I used to live in. To top it off, I found out it was a homage to some dead guy who came in a funerary car. Go figure. It was a public farewell act to a gang member. A ritual burial. There were women I could identify as Santeria priestesses wearing necklaces and stuff on the back of pickup trucks, which is "forbidden" here, theoretically. All of this spectacle is out in the open, for the consternation of us, hard-working law-abiding citizens cruising peacefully through the streets with our families. Shots in the air, as if my wonderful tropical country was some dirt hole ruled by non-Christian warlords in some God-forgotten parts of the world.

This was the exhibition of primal behaviors that are against our respectful Catholic traditions. Mind you, I´m not the most religious guy around here; I´m a sinner like my next-door neighbor. However, I do feel respect for some stuff. I could see young women dancing the reggaeton, a barrios hip-hop version with dirty language, over the coffin. There are enough videos out there on the web of how these funerary and ritual burials are. The epitome of barrio culture degradation, to my eyes.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a group of guys doing the same stunts on a motorcycle…only that this time in the streets of New York City.