Happy Cinco de Mayo, man.
Or as we've been calling it around here this week: Cinco de MADRE.
Look, when the team came to Tommy and I and said "We can't decide between a Cinco de Mayo sale and a Mother's Day sale this year," I told them: why not just do both. Call it the MADRE sale. Boom. Done. You're welcome, man.
Tommy thought it was the best idea I'd ever had. Which tells you something about Tommy.
Anyway. Today is Cinco de Mayo, and I want to tell you why I actually love this holiday. Because it's probably not the reason you'd expect.
Here's the thing: I've never really considered myself "Mexican." I'm Chicano. Born right here in South LA. Don't speak much Spanish outside of a few choice phrases I definitely can't repeat in this email.
I'm American through and through. And that's exactly why Cinco de Mayo cracks me up.
Because here's what most people don't realize: Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. That's September 16th.
What we're actually celebrating today is a military victory at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, when a badly outnumbered Mexican army beat back a much larger French force that had never lost a battle in nearly 50 years.
Real underdog stuff. Overwhelming odds. The kind of story Hollywood would make a movie about if they hadn't already made 300. (Picture 300, but with rifles and Spanish accents. And honestly, a better outcome.)
So what other country but the United States makes such a big deal out of another nation's military victory? Nobody in London is out there doing shots and yelling "Viva Puebla!" But here we are.
And I love us for it.
It's basically just a great excuse for people in the good ol' USA to get together, eat tacos, and have a good time. And I am never going to complain about that.
These days I've been celebrating with our
High & Dry instead of margaritas. All the fun, none of the hangover. At my age, that's not a small thing, man. And I'll tell you right now, a cold High & Dry pairs with tacos better than you'd think. Try it and thank me later.
So however you're spending today, I hope it's a good one.
Raise a glass to the underdogs. Eat some tacos. And if you want to grab something from the MADRE sale while you're at it, we've got you covered.
Use code MADRE at checkout for 25% off. New subscriptions get it automatically.
Be good,
