On Monday, it was my day to go line up at the bank to cash in my mother’s pension. I used to do this at the ATM on 42nd 29th Streets, which is relatively close to me, but given the National Bank’s liquidity crunch at the moment, finding an ATM with cash has become nothing more than a miracle, so I find myself forced to line up to get into the bank and cash in the cheque with the cashier. Thank God my mother gave me a power of attorney years ago so I can do this for her.

After almost two hours in the line and finding out a million intimate things about the people waiting in line with me, a bank employee comes out and announces: “There isn’t any more national currency available, we’re waiting for the money truck to come, and it won’t be getting here until 1 PM. A bucket of cold water fell on top of my head.

To tell you the truth, I should be used to these kinds of things happening to me, because even the most basic task becomes an odyssey, I’m not sure if it’s the same for other people. I believe there are people who, instead of being born with a guiding star, are born broken and if something can go wrong for us, it will: this happens to me at the doctor’s, at work, on public transport… even in love I think.

In short, with no other plan at the time, I called my mother to tell her that I’d have to cash it in another time and I changed my plans for the day. Luckily, I still have some back-up money at home to sort out the most urgent things. Given the fact I had nothing else to do that day, I decided to go to Hilda’s house. Hilda is the mother of my friend Ileana, she lives in Cojimar and I’d promised her a visit a long time ago and hadn’t been.