By Nike

HAVANA TIMES – I want to tell you about the new way workers and retirees are being paid. Although perhaps it isn’t so new, since it has already been happening for a few years.

I also want to tell you about my experience these summer days trying to make some purchases at private stores, because there’s no way to withdraw even a single peso from our cards at the banks, not to mention the long lines.

It’s money held prisoner, because there’s no way to get it off the card, and held hostage because you have to get on the kidnapper’s good side for them to accept payment by bank transfer. (This happens to me anywhere I try to buy some product or ingredient to put together the day’s meal.)

The first thing is to say good morning and smile. Don’t forget that detail, because the success of your mission depends on it. I arrive, greet them, and then ask, “Do you accept payment by bank transfer?” If the answer is yes, my next question is, “How much will you let me pay that way?” It’s almost never more than 1,000 pesos (US $1.50), and you have to get there very early because if you arrive late, they’ve already accepted all the transfers they’re going to take that day, and you have to move on to the next place.

To achieve a happy ending, you have to leave home overflowing with optimism and let every trace of the negativity that some people carry just roll off you. This has become increasingly common lately because of everything surrounding us: so many hardships—the blackouts, transportation problems, the search for food, streets filled with garbage, etc.

Another detail to keep in mind if you want to manage to buy something digitally is that there has to be electricity. That’s very important for getting a signal. On top of that, the payment process is cumbersome. You have to go through a whole series of steps: log in, enter the type of currency, your mobile number, your card number, and many other things. It’s quite an odyssey, including walking to the corner with your device to get a better signal. At one store, a woman told me, “Stand under the coconut tree and you’ll get through.” And sure enough, the connection was great there—Mother Nature, always helping us survive.

I think I was very lucky and came across some very good people—and there are still so many of them—because, as I always say, we Cubans are good by nature and want to help. The merchants are in the same situation we are. We all live here and suffer these kinds of imposed tortures. But anyway, back to the story.

I needed to buy salt to give some flavor to my meals, but the transfer wouldn’t go through Banco Metropolitano because it wasn’t working—on a Saturday at noon. I was about to leave the store when this hardworking young Cuban showed up and offered me a solution. Young people always find ways to get things done, even if it takes a few extra steps. He told me to send the money to his mobile phone, and he would transfer it to Bandec, which was working. He worked it out, and I went home with my salt.

From my experience, I can tell you that you have to keep trying, as with everything in life, to achieve your goals. There is no system in this world, no matter how perverse, that can extinguish Cubans’ desire to help their fellow Cubans.

Let’s stay strong and optimistic. We’re in the final stretch.

Read more from the diary of Nike here on Havana Times.