Mexicano "Se Aguita"
His wish to be "Enterrado con La Banda" denied as a consequence
By ONANTZIN News
2011-04-20
Los Angeles, CA -- One year ago today in Inglewood California, Antonio Reyes' life underwent a drastic change. Within a matter of days, Antonio was shunned in disgrace by friends and family, received news that his grandfather in Mexico had taken him off his Will, and most upsetting of all, he was informed that his longtime wish to be "Enterrado con La Banda" (buried with a live band) would no longer be fulfilled – All this because Antonio "se aguito" (ah wee toe) during a backyard carne asada.
[Aguitar is defined by urban dictionaries as someone bummed out, saddened; an admittance that someone's feelings have been hurt by someone else.]
It all began during a carne asada, organized by Antonio at his parent's house, to enjoy a game of NFL Football. During the game, an argument over the supremacy of the Raiders vs the 49ers broke out between Antonio and his good friend Edgar - an argument that eventually turned for the worse.
[Antonio refused to elaborate on the incident, citing emotional reasons]
After the incident, one of Antonio's friends, who had witnessed everything, tried to comfort him by saying "No te aguites guey, he wasn't serious... it's all just fun and games", to which a humiliated Antonio replied, "No... si me aguito! He has no right treating me like that... I'm not a kid anymore!".
Antonio explained that immediately after he uttered those words, the music suddenly stopped, the cook drop his tongues in shock, and all guests stopped what they were doing, turned towards him in astonishment; then, turned away - whispering words of disbelief and disapproval among themselves. Within minutes, the guests began leaving, and even Antonio's father, who had heard his son utter those words, walked inside the house with his head down.
When a confused Antonio asked his guest's why they were leaving, he got no reply. He asked again in frustration and one of his friends stopped and said "Don't you know, guey, Mexican's never admit "que se aguitan". Never! Someone else can claim you're "aguitado", but you deny it, or never admit to it; It's an unspoken code, vato, and you broke it. No one likes to hang out with someone "que se aguita"
Antonio admits that he made light of the incident, and assumed that things would be fine in a few days. To his surprise, however, just a few days later, things only got worse. He received news that his grandfather in Mexico had taken him off his Will, which would have left Antonio with the house and half the land owned by his grandfather in Mexico; The exact words from his grandfather were "Alguien que se aguita no es mi nieto!" ("someone that bums out is not my grandson").
Even worse than the news from his grandfather, was the news delivered to Antonio by his younger brother Mathew; His brother informed him that the family had come to a decision and would no longer be able to fulfill his longtime wish of being "Enterrado con La Banda"(buried with a live band), saying that Las Bandas refuse to play for anyone "que se aguita".
Having lost his funeral privileges, belittled by his own family, and shunned by his Mexican friends, who no longer invited him to hang out, Antonio says he was deeply hurt and affected. He began staying at home for prolonged periods and subsequently fell into a depression that saw his career suffer, his relationship with his girlfriend end, and his plans for Law School sidelined.
Until then, Antonio had been living the American Dream that's so emphatically talked about by immigrant parents; He had recently graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor's in Anthropology, was working full time at a job he loved, and was preparing for the LSATs to go into Law School. But now, depressed from his most unfortunate experience, he had lost all his motivation.
"Why even bother? ", said Antonio, as the interview wrapped up. He paused to look out the window, and then said, in a somber tone: "who would have thought that hiding your feelings was more important to people than anything else you've accomplished".
When our interview ended, Antonio got up and began walking towards his room without saying a word (yeah, we forgot to mention we were interviewing him at his house). He stopped at the entrance to his room and stared at a picture of Cesar Chavez hanging on the living room wall. After a few seconds, he asked us: "Do you think Cesar Chavez ever admitted to being "aguitado", to which his younger brother Matthew, who was in the kitchen, yelled in reply: "Hell no!".
