Breathe
By Yohali Reséndiz
I do not know if you agree with me, but how uncomfortable it has been to hear in several voices of the current government the praise, self-praise, protection of the corrupt and the best they get: to minimize the consequences of their actions in the next governments.
They are so cynical that they prefer to tiptoe around the current disaster in Mexico and the deterioration of families and businesses as a result of the insecurity and the "cobro de piso" (the price to pay) that they face in many municipalities in several states.
In the daily and direct communication with the country (Mañanera) messages are sent only that "if you are not with me you are against me" "everything is fine" "no no no, it is not like that".
There is no open dialogue. There is no consensus but imposition. Agreements and respect do not prevail. There are no initiatives that consolidate real and tangible growth, no guarantee of rights and even less the proposal to improve the quality of life of the people. Because what there are and continue to be are housewives in the aisles of the markets, tianguis and local markets that with all the social programs in which they and their children are enrolled, continue to eat eggs and beans, tortillas and if there is enough from time to time a steak. And if there is meat, there is no fruit and if there is fruit there is no vegetables and if there are beans there is no dessert. Mexicans eat to fill up, not to nourish themselves.
Tomatoes are at 40 pesos a kilo, onions at 33 pesos, tomatoes at 27 pesos, tortillas at 20 pesos a kilo. It is a tragedy.
What we have in this country are grandfathers and grandmothers sick to the naked eye and malnourished under their clothes carrying accumulated depressions and boredom. Walking aimlessly with their hair in disarray because dreams are the only place where they are happy and they sleep and sleep and sleep and sleep while life goes on outside.
What we have in this country are children playing in parks with dirt and gravel floors and rickety, faded playground equipment as their future.
Young people wasting the most valuable thing they have: their life and time with drugs.
A few days ago, I met "Doña Mary" in a cheap kitchen -where I go from time to time- and there she was, with her sweater on backwards and her gray hair in disarray, openly asking who could tell her when it was her turn to receive the money she gets on her card (Bienestar)... Nobody answered her.
-I waited to be served and drank water, observing those at the tables around me and her.
"Doña Mary" asked again, please, can someone help me with this device that I don't understand anything, she said while her trembling hand poked the screen of her cell phone with her fingernail and made her eyes small to look at the glass of the cell phone. No one answered.
So, I got up and stood next to her, can I sit down?
In a flash I gave him a master class on how to use it and not ask anyone for "cold ones" and obviously I asked him because I couldn't stand it.
-Do you wear glasses?
-Yes," he replied.
-Does he bring them?
-No, I haven't bought them because I want to paint a car for my son to give him, he hasn't come to see me for a long time but if I call him to tell him that I have painted it and it is working he will surely come for it," he told me while his gray gaze pierced my soul.
-And would you rather keep looking at your son's lack of love for you than spend money on glasses that allow you to look at your reality?
He smiled half-heartedly, grimly and reluctantly.
-Sometimes I wish I would never wake up," he said.
-Ah, that's depression. And it's curable.
His eyes looked at me with a different gleam.
-Oh, yeah?
-Yes, in this neighborhood there is surely a psychologist, a therapy can help you to let go and not to carry what doesn't add up. But before going to the psychologist you should take responsibility for yourself. How old are you?
-65, I will be 66 in March.
-How is it possible for you to go out in the street without wearing glasses? A fall, a crossing without looking at a car, well, just feeling the security of looking at life is already different because if you go out of the house, what should you bring?
-Keys, money, a sweater, my bag, my umbrella and my INE," she said confidently.
-What the fuck are you going to paint a car for a son who doesn't share his life and time with you? Fuck it, have girlfriends, friends, go to the public library, take out a book and read it with your glasses, watch wonderful documentaries, eat well and eat on time, as my mom says, that's what she worked for, go for a walk, sleep early, add me to your whats and I'll be calling you and if you ever need any information about anything I'll help you or go to the doctor, I'll go with you.
-Really?
-Of course it is.
-Do you live in the colony," he asked me.
-No, but with gasoline I go all the way to Tijuana.
So, kind readers, I believe that just like Doña Mary, there are millions of Mexicans who are eager to have a better day, but do not know how with what they have and continue to think that the government (Doña Mary's son) is the salvation when the reality is that there is a deep lack of love, no recognition, but disdain and, of course, a cruel and eternal abandonment.
But, as therapists say, whose problem is it?
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
More than 150 opinions from 100 columnists await you for less than one book per month.
Comments ()