If it weren't for the saying "a bad situation, a good face," which has been circulating in the Spanish language in various forms for centuries, one could imagine that it was invented—and is being reinvented every day—by Cubans.
Young Holguin native Alain Pérez and his grandmother can certainly attest to this, especially his grandmother, who at 86 years old still stitches cushions from fabric scraps and makes peanut nougats to weather the storm of the eternal crisis in Cuba.
In a recent Instagram post, the young man, who is also a content creator for social media, narrates how the lady manages her two small ventures while he focuses on making charcoal, a product that has reached high values in the country due to the almost absolute lack of fuel.
However, the young man confesses that he is fearful about the continuity of his hard work, because "there's a rumor going around that anyone caught cutting down trees or making charcoal will face a hefty fine," referring to the potential economic penalties that could be imposed on him.
Even amid the systemic shortages in the country, with many sectors of society paralyzed, when we should be grateful for and encourage almost any entrepreneurial action that helps either individually or collectively, inspectors, police, and various agents of regime control do not hesitate to scrutinize, halt, and prevent, becoming the true obstacles that the official discourse often claims to combat.
Beyond the beauty of the grandmother's vital energy, what is a woman of her age doing, who has surely given so much in labor for her family and country still "guapeando," as they say in good Cuban style, to earn a daily living? Does she not deserve to be enjoying her retirement years, relishing time with her children and grandchildren, traveling, and having fun?
What does a young person, who evidently possesses communication skills and seemingly also technological aptitude for such endeavors, do burning their best years of learning among coal furnaces, without undermining that or any other profession or trade practiced with integrity?
Many questions may arise, and in fact, they are encouraged by the hundreds of comments generated by the post, alongside admiration and applause for the young man and his tenacious grandmother.
"Age is not the limit, mentality is. I don't know if I'll be making charcoal tomorrow, but I do know that as long as I have the strength my grandmother has, I will not give up. May God bless all the warrior grandmothers, because sometimes they have more vision than we do," concluded Alain Pérez.
With scraps of fabric and the brilliant light of coal, it seems to suggest that the Cuba of tomorrow is being constructed—one where there is no need to live in worry “about the next problem.”
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