Chronicle of despair.

There were no street vendors, the cart drivers were absent, when I inquired they told me that there was an inspection, that is to say, they knew beforehand and did not go out. War warned does not kill a soldier.

This Thursday in December was a normal day, like the rest of the ones we live in the house. My wife told me that I had to buy some groceries to bring to the table…. I confess that this is one of the tasks I consider the most cumbersome.

As a general rule, whenever I return from that impossible mission we end up arguing, she almost never understands my explanations as to why I did not fulfill the task.

My arguments when I arrive always have the same answer: the product has no quality, the prices are high or there was none. She never understands those explanations.

Today, to get rid of that heavy burden, I convinced her to go with me, so I served as her driver and financier.

The first place we visited was the small state-run market in the Armando Mestre neighborhood, where she bought two pounds of black beans at 280 pesos. There he began his first dissatisfaction, they were very dirty. He also bought a pound of guagüí, a total of three guagüicitos and they cost him one hundred pesos.

He needed to buy aji cachucha and garlic. We didn’t even see the cachucha in the spiritual centers. There was a garlic seller on a bicycle, I saw her talking to him. He came back empty-handed, and when I asked him why he had not bought any, he told me: «What does he think, a garlic with scattered cloves, small and at 40 pesos a head». I took the opportunity to tell him, that’s what happens to me when I go shopping.

There were no street vendors, the cart drivers were absent, when I inquired they told me that there was an inspection, that is, that they knew beforehand and did not go out. War warned does not kill a soldier. The saddest thing was when they told me: Yes, but they are inspectors from Havana. I deduced that those from Matanzas do no harm, they are more digestible or those from other provinces are not committed, this I could not determine.

The conclusions were black beans without chili or garlic, but they let themselves be eaten.

Written by Enrique Tirse.