Which Side Are You On?
Nogales, Arizona
2022
Walking around Nogales, Arizona I realized, that not much seems to distinguish one side of the border from the other, at least language-wise. Wandering into a store invariably produced the greeting “hola”, with the staff quickly switching to English if I answered “hello.” Probably the same thing happens on the other side of the border, although I’ve not been there for almost 50 years. But I imagine if you drugged me and dropped me in the area without knowing which side of the fence I was on, it would take me a while to figure it out.
Another question of interest: is it more correct to say “which side of the border” or “what side of the border”? I believe in this instance “which” is correct, but there is strangely sparse advice on the issue compared to other grammar questions on the internet.