la carreta has been serving mexican food for 20 years in marshalltown, a small community about 50 miles northeast of des moines [the capital of iowa]. alfonso medina took over the family restaurant business a couple of years ago. his parents migrated from mexico more than three decades ago and he was born in iowa..[medina says he was] made in mexico, delivered in the u.s.
alfonso medina serving food to his customers in la carreta (sara jordan-heintz, marshalltown times republican)
anger over this sign lit up alfonso medina’s social media (cnn)
not long after, his social media feed lit up with criticism about the sign and he even received a few letters. but one such letter caught his attention. it was typed with no return address or signature. they addressed him by name and accused him of caving in to political correctness, but they also called him a leftist marxist… the letter also has a handwritten part expressing disappointment la carreta decided to display a sign that insults and disrespects christianity and america.
not long after means a little later. even emphasizes the fact that medina got letters in addition to social media response. such means of that type. cave in means do what is requested or expected. leftist means politically liberal. handwritten means part of the letter was written with a pen, not digitally printed like the rest of the letter. light up indicates a high level of activity or a metaphorical explosion. like in the lyrics of bts’ huge hit dynamite. u can hear (ima) light it up like dynamite several times.
as valdez explains, medina took things in stride (stayed calm). he posted the letter to instagram, and added: we’re sorry your burrito had to get political, but it was the only way y’all would listen. get political is an example of get + adjective. get means become. y’all is an informal way to say you plural.
but what really got people’s attention…
…was the four words at the end of [the post] that went viral: no love, no tacos. and the phrase took off, becoming the new slogan of the restaurant.
the no love, no tacos billboard in marshalltown iowa (cnn)
i am someone who takes something negative and tries to turn it into something 10 times more positive. if they don’t want us, they should align their ideals and their comments with the food they eat.
pain, but i won’t let it turn into hate
did what any savvy businessman would do: he copyrighted the slogan and started selling t-shirts and other branded merchandise to help fund a scholarship for the local community college. and he paid for a large billboard displaying “no love, no tacos” near his restaurant that dwarfs the sign that originally caused the controversy.
a tech savvy kid
piggybacking on the popularity of the slogan, medina created a new website where he is advocating to make election day a national holiday. he is practicing what he is preaching. [he says]: my goal is to make the elections as just as possible. i am going to close on election day, and not only pay my employees, but i am going to go and volunteer at the polls.
piggyback rides are related to the idea of piggybacking (depositphotos.com)
the english practice extra for this post defines these words and phrases will, skill, stank heap of shit, get behind, rally around, dummy, amongst and let go of.
there is also this vocabulary that can be found elsewhere (in other places) on richyrocks.com: have got structure, actually, would, politician, political, phase out and xenophobia.
click CC for subtitles in english/spanish.
