Your first couple weeks of college, the second thing people ask you after your name is “Where are you from?” For me, the answer is Albuquerque, New Mexico. For most people, the response to my answer is either “Like from High School Musical?” or “Wait, the place with the meth?”; if they're over 50 they always ask if people ever figured out they should tell Bugs Bunny to turn left. Yes, my fine acquaintances who may not even realize that New Mexico is a state- Albuquerque, the desert mountain town of 560,000 people who all run drug empires out of our Winnebagos.
That’s where I’m from. No, we don’t have choreographed dance breaks at lunch as we all declare our inner secrets and break from our status quos. No, I don’t sell drugs. Despite all the flak I direct at my hometown, and despite those (what I consider to be) negative stereotypes I mentioned, I can tell you at least one good thing: my hometown is exactly like Breaking Bad. Of course, there are a few key differences: Los Pollos Hermanos is actually a burrito and burger place with some of the best burritos you'll find in an Albuquerque drive-through, the people who live in the White residence don't appreciate it when you throw pizza on their roof, and DEA agent Gomez is actually a former school board member running for a County Commissioner seat. But Walter White tells you a lot about one of the most important truths of Albuquerque's residents.
For those of you who don’t know the basic premise of Breaking Bad: Chemistry teacher full of untapped genius finds out he has cancer. Chemistry teacher panics and realizes that his family will probably wither and die if they are left with mounting healthcare bills and limited income in his absence. Chemistry teacher turns to selling drugs to secure his family’s financial future. This burning need to protect those one cares about through hell or high water- THAT is how Breaking Bad perfectly mirrors my hometown.
Of course every town in the world has selfish bad eggs. But Burqueños are fiercely loyal to those they hold dear- that is who we are. We choose to embody the best of a ride or die mentality once we decide who we love and trust. Even when our actions are easily viewed as ill-advised, misguided, or just plain stupid by those in on the outside, nine times out of ten these actions are born not entirely from sheer idiocy but from our compulsion to protect those we love. Nowhere else I’ve been have the people I’ve known been so dedicated to the wellbeing and safety of the people they care about the most. Thankfully most of the time citizens of my hometown protect those they love in ways other than building drug empires to make money to care for their families in their absence. But never doubt that despite the lack of extremity in their actions, anybody from Albuquerque would kill or be killed for those they hold dear.
