Which may be why I was freely kvetching, yesterday, as
I sat (not lay) on the couch.
“I want my life now to go back to normal,” I said, or
something of the sort.
Silence—all these guys know how to use silence. And a
very effective technique it is, too. You find yourself blurting ANYTHING just
to relieve the silence.
So I went on.
“First I went to Wisconsin for ten days in early May
and that was nice…though not without challenges. Then I went to London for ten
days and that was nice though cold. Then we came back and Taí was here and that
was wonderful but…”
More silence. A Harvard degree he has, but he can’t
talk?
“Things are subtly different when she’s here. Usually
for the better. The house gets cleaner. Glasses left in the sink turn up washed
in the drainer. I can crash early to bed and that’s perfectly fine—Raf will
have someone to talk to. It’s better, but it’s not normal.”
I was pondering all this after my walk this morning, as
I was reading the local rag—El Nuevo Día.
Lead story—our local legislature is considering a ban on the cuidadores
callejeros. Caretakers of the street,
loosely….
…not that that helps.
OK—let me explain. For years, guys have worked the
public streets, offering help in parallel parking and assurances that nothing
will happen to their car. A minor protection scheme, and a good idea, really.
You don’t want your car stolen, do you? Naturally, grateful citizens think to
give a little something—a pesito or
two—from time to time. And of course it’s logical that over the years these
guys have staked out their territory—and fight fiercely anyone moving in on
them. As well, with such a service, naturally a warm relationship develops between
the street guys and the drivers (and / or parkers).
Churlish people allege that this has converted public
parking into private parking for regulars. Oh, and also that anyone NOT
offering that little pesito is gonna find his car badly scratched on return.
Well, they were warned, right?
After all, their car wasn’t stolen….
This now makes perfect sense to me, though there was a
time it didn’t. I had questions—silly questions—like “why can the governor call
me up and invite me to the Three King’s Day party, but he can’t call to say the
tsunami is coming?”
I learned, and explained it later to a friend.
“Webster,” I said, “there are when where what and how
questions. But there are NO why
questions….”
See?
But this didn’t come easily, this let’s-call-it relaxed
way of thinking. Especially since by all appearances, the laws are greatly
respected in Puerto Rico. No Estacione, Ley 40. No Fumar, Ley 160. I
used to find it curious—were all the Puerto Ricans running around with law
books, checking out and citing all these laws? Why didn’t I see people with
them?
And why is the car right in front of the No Parking
sign, or the guy smoking in front of the No Smoking sign?
I checked my words, not wanting to be the ugly
American. But I did mention it to a friend, a Puerto Rican with the flag of the
island tattooed on his neck….
“Puerto Ricans are the most LAWLESS people on earth,”
he roared. “They will do anything—ANYTHING—for mamita. They will move heaven and earth for their friends.
But they are completely clueless when acting toward a stranger!”
Note the pronoun “they” from the Puerto Rican tattooed
gentleman….
“Now, AMERICANS—that’s different. Not one—ONE—American
would park their car in a handicapped parking spot. But Puerto Ricans! Hah,
they’ll run the lady down in her wheel chair, just to get her spot!”
He raged on. I feared his words might be incendiary.
“Absolutely,” a woman shouted from across the
street—why risk life and limb when you can just raise your voice? “Beasts,
absolute beasts—all of them!”
This no longer strikes me as strange.
Nor does it seem strange that the public streets have
become private parking. After all, as one of the caretakers said, the
government doesn’t give him food or a job. So he’s gotta do something, right?
Nor does it seem odd that one day the ACLU is terming
our local police force as abusive and running amok (well, so did the US
Department of Justice four years back) and the next day we’re worrying about
the caretakers of the streets.
Nor is it terribly curious that anyone would be
interested in what laws are being passed since…
…nobody enforces the laws anyway….
See?
