HoC: Marilyn Ramirez
Humans of Chaffey
Photo of Marilyn Ramirez
Marilyn Gutierrez did not know her real name until the age of 18, but never let the fact alter who she was. Gutierrez's mother, Maria E. Ramirez, had put the wrong name on every one of Gutierrez's school records since she started to attend. From the tender years of waddling on stump-like legs as a toddler in preschool, up until what she described as the "soul sucking nightmarish hellhole" that is high school, she always knew herself only as Marilyn Ramirez.
Despite being a confused, angry and unceremoniously blunt teenager, the first thing she did in the face of such a bewildering and to most a once-in-a-lifetime situation, was whoop in laughter. To know Gutierrez is knowing the sound of her many laughs, ranging from short spouts of breath to bellowing guffaws with sharp grasps of air because she can not breathe anymore; understanding what causes them is a completely different story. To her friends, however, she is the source of thoughtful gifts, unlimited off-hand topics to rant and rave about, blunt advice on any affair and hours of laughing.
Her long-time friend Gustavo Gonzalez brings this fact up when asked what are his favorite qualities about her,
“...she’s also really funny… one of, if not the funniest person I know,”
He emphasized that this is a noteworthy trait for himself and their own friend group. Gustavo was also eager to bring up another trait he shares with his friend: a seemingly unceasing hunger for knowledge. When asked about this, he replies:
“I really like and admire how she has a vast knowledge about obscure internet shit, it's like, she’ll fall in an internet hole and won't leave until she knows everything about whatever topic she found out about that day — like an internet safari man.”
Just like the millions of people who find themselves on the internet, Marilyn logs on and is thrusted into a never-ending well of content, eagerly provided to her through a stable internet connection. Marilyn utilizes the internet to broaden her ever expanding collection of videos, pictures, articles, websites, stores and anything that could prove to be useful or entertaining. By harnessing the internet to her advantage, her friends know when they have a question they can turn to her.
When she is not participating in the hunt for knowledge, Gutierrez works at home with her mother in her childcare business and then continues her day in school. She ties her shoulder length brown hair back in a ponytail and watches and interacts with children that varies between newborns to 13. While normally a candid and outspoken individual, she feels the need to present herself in a different manner in the face of her young clients. After all, she knows kids see and process the world around them so much differently than adults do. Gutierrez chooses to trade in her sharp attitude with nurturing words, a witty tongue for boundless patience and an obscure sense of humor for positive reinforcement.
To the surprise of others in her social group, Gutierrez has found herself fully raising children, watching them grow from a baby to teen, through potty training to learning how to read and write and even more. Although she is tired of the baby talk that comes with this profession, Marilyn finds herself staying for two reasons she is less than happy to mention: her mother and with even more scorn, the piling bills that demand payment.
It is because of the hectic schedule consisting of work, school and even more work, Marilyn often finds herself with little leisure time. On her days off, she escapes from the ever demanding clutches of her responsibilities by discovering cities she dreams of visiting, and when asked about it she was thrilled to mention the first time she went on a vacation January of 2020, a road trip to San Francisco. To Marilyn, this was unprecedented: a new city, new scenery and new people.
She describes the sleepy, lush farms that are seemingly unending on the six hour drive to the city as one would describe a romantic setting in the park. Her time there with a friend who accompanied her was brief but beautiful, lasting only a weekend but packed tightly with scheduled activities to do all over once arrived. She kept the daily agenda in her phone with a Google Drive file that included addresses, phone numbers, web-links to every bar, restaurants and shops they planned to visit.
"You can never be too safe," Gutierrez says regarding her itinerary.
Gutierrez stated the trip was filled to the brim with laughter as she was able to break free from the demands of her school life which mapped her future and the children who relied on her. Her favorite part of the trip was being on the famous Golden Gate Bridge, despite being tired her eyes lit up as she was led by the bridge into the bustling city ahead of her.