A Cuban resident in the United States shared on TikTok the painful reunion with a friend of many years whom she had not seen since Cuba, a meeting that promised to be emotional but ended up becoming an experience of criticism and judgment that left her speechless.
The protagonist, known on TikTok as @chiquitica_y_ferrelito, posted a nearly ten-minute video on Tuesday in which she recounts what happened at a dollar store in her neighborhood.
That day she was painting her house —her day off— and went out to buy dye while wearing paint-stained clothes and sandals.
Inside the store, someone tapped her on the shoulder: it was a lifelong Cuban friend whom she hadn't seen in years.
Instead of a warm hug, her friend began to question her appearance: she asked if she worked in painting, called her "messy," and told her that that style "isn't used" in the United States.
"Girl, we are in the United States, what is that?" her friend said, as the protagonist recounts in the video.
The narrator, who has been in the country for four years and works at a hotel in the San Miguel area, tried to explain that she was simply painting her house, but her friend kept making comments.
"Mom, look, I'm not going to give up my essence just to show off what I'm not," she replied.
The conversation revealed more contrasts: the friend, who has been in the U.S. for only a year, confessed that she had left her husband of many years —who, according to the narrator, "killed her with quite a bit of hunger and misery"— and that her children remain in Cuba with their grandmother.
The protagonist, on the other hand, has been married to her husband, whom she calls "el Ferro," for 25 years.
The most ironic moment came when leaving the store: the friend, who boasted about her car, found out that the narrator drives a 2018 model vehicle for which she pays 731 dollars monthly plus insurance, while the friend's car turned out to be a convertible in poor condition.
The Cuban also made it clear that her trailer, although old, is her property and represents an investment: "That old piece of trailer is mine, it's my property, tomorrow I will sell it and I have money invested in it."
This type of reflections on Cuban identity in emigration are common among compatriots who have been established in the U.S. for years and observe how some newcomers adopt attitudes of superiority before they have fully “landed” in the reality of the country.
It is not the first time that a Cuban shares a reunion that ends badly with a friend from Cuba, a phenomenon that sparks extensive debate on social media about the value changes brought by emigration.
Other Cubans have also expressed their weariness towards similar attitudes from fellow citizens who criticize those that do not fit their image of "success" in the United States.
The narrator closed the video with a reflection that resonated with her followers: "You've been here for a year; let’s see how you feel after carrying the years that I have. I've been here for four years in this country. All that pretty image you have now, in two more years, we’ll see what becomes of your life."
"Friend from where, brother from where, what is the brotherhood, what is the friendship if it doesn't exist," he concluded, before ending with a phrase that summed up the emotional weight of the encounter: "I will carry on with my pain."
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