I couldn't resist relaying this story. My wife and I were married in
Collinsville, VA (a suburb, if that's the right word, of Martinsville),
by coincidence on Cinco de Mayo. As it has become the obnoxious tendency
of today's overly materialistic weddings, we felt compelled to provide
gift baskets for our out-of-town guests. Driving through Collinsville on
one of my many basket-filling errands, I chanced upon a strip mall
taqueria/grocery store. I discovered inside a range of grocery items
(most otherwise available in the U.S.) that had been imported from
Mexico with Spanish labels. At a premium price I ended up purchasing a
dozen or so bars of the Mexican version of Zest soap, an amusing gift
for friends who knew me by my college nickname: Zest. I've always
marvelled at this odd confluence of cultures in southwest Virginia.


Bland "Zest" Whitley
Library of Virginia