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In the life of every small town,
there is always a folk personality whose particular
characteristics make him or her popular. This was the
case of Pancho Hernández, known as “El
Porta”. Pancho was a good and humble man. He did
not have much schooling, but that didn´t stop
him of working hard, establishing his grocery business
and becoming a successful entrepreneur. His particular
vocabulary made him popular with people in town.
I always admired Pancho for his tenacity
and hard work. He reciprocated my feelings.
I met Pancho around 1930. He was
a tall, husky man who dressed rustically. He wore white
wide cotton pants and shirt; a colorful wide belt made
of cotton, a big moustache and smoked cigars. He sold
fresh produce under a tarp a t Main Square.
On occasions, we saw Pancho working
at his business since very early in the morning. It
was still dark, so he would light his place with oil
lamps and worked carefully arranging the display on
top of a small table. His specialty was selling bananas
porta-limón (original fruit from tropical places).
The nickname Porta came after his customers’ frequent
demands for porta-limón bananas. They would often
ask him: - “Pancho, do you have bananas today?”
and he would calmly answer – “What kind
do you want…the usual Porta?” People started
calling him Pancho El Porta. Pancho’s strong willed
wife Petra was a hard workingwoman well known for being
quick-minded. Her favorite saying was- “Nobody
fools me…” Although she was blunt, she treated
her patrons nicely. Local people liked both Pancho and
Petra’s ways and the quality of their products.
Pancho and Petra worked hard and
their business started flourishing. Slowly they started
expanding.
Pacho was the first to sell cold
cuts meats, grapes, apples, and other produce that did
not grow in Vallarta. During rainy reason, he paid a
private plane to bring his produce to Vallarta.
Pancho’s business grew and
became the place where women went to market and gossiped
at the same time. Both wealthy and working class women
discussed events, told new jokes, talked about each
other, etc, at Pancho’s grocery store. The women
left Pancho’s place with a basket full of groceries
hanging from their arms and updated with all the town’s
gossip.
Pancho became a wealthy man, but
his lifestyle and his popular vocabulary never changed.
Many funny anecdotes were built around his personality,
and the fame of his character extended to neighboring
towns.
There was a story of a patron asking
for change for a ten pesos bill. The patron asked –
“Don Pancho, you have change for a ten pesos bill
by chance?” And he would answer jingling a bag
of coins – “There are no chances at my store,
only money!” Local people understood his rare
humor. He was always very proud of his accomplishments.
A local woman thought Pancho’s
remarks about his new house were funny and strange.
She asked him how many floors would he add to his new
home. He answered – “The sky is the limit….”
The dialog between Pancho and his patrons was always
folkloric.
Although Pancho was a strong man,
he fell apart, crushed by the death of his wife, Petra.
She was the pillar to their marriage and always took
good care of him. After she passed away he slowly fell
into a depression. He became sick and always looked
tired. His business started going down and he ended
closing it.
Pancho died in 1978. May he rest
in peace.
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Note: The segments
from the book "Puerto Vallarta en mis Recuerdos"
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Note: Distinguished
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