Poverty can be recognized if someone has a low standard of living and can not use the benefits as anyone else. But also, you're poor if you have an unhappy life, no matter how much money you have. Never mind a rich life if you live in Antarctica ... or if you are straight and live in a city full of gay people (or opposite) ... or if you have lots of cars and you live on a small island ... or if your wife is gorgeous and having sex with everyone else except you ... In all of these cases, I can see only poverty. Some modest and small gift can make some Cubans happy, but those who are working in the hotel and receive a monthly salary of usually around 20 pesos are conceited and insulting if they receive a tip of less than one peso. Some don’t even want less than 5 pesos, and some even want to define their own tip. Tips should be a reflection of your mood and appreciation. We bought a big pack of Pampers worth about 12 euros for one married couple with children in Havana, for no reason. They jumped with joy, as they were happy. You are not poor if you don’t have - you are poor if you do not enjoy in what you have ... and each one of us has at least something.
By Nenad Ciric, 2010
Srpski: Kada se pomene Kuba, jedna od asocijacija je SIROMASTVO.
Siromastvo se prepoznaje ako neko ima nizak standard zivota i ne moze da koristi blagodeti kao neko drugi iz njegovog okruzenja. Ali isto tako, siromasan si ako si nezadovoljan zivotom, ma koliko para imao i ne umes ili ne mozes da ih upotrebis na pravi nacin. Sta ti znaci ako si bogat a zivis na Antartiku ... ili ako volis zenske a zivis u gradu punom homoseksualaca ... ili ako imas veliki vozni park a zivis na nekom malom ostrvu ... ili ako ti je zena lepa a vodi ljubav se sa svima ostalima osim sa tobom ... U svim ovim slucajevima ja vidim samo siromastvo. Kuba je prirodno bogata - Kubanaca verovatno ima i siromasnih i bogatih, uglavnom su skromni i mali poklon moze da ih usreci, dok oni koji rade u hotelu i primaju mesecnu platu oko 20 pezosa obicno su pokondireni i uvrede se ako im das tip (bakshish) manji od jednog pezosa. Neki nece nista manje od 5 pezosa, a neki cak zele sami da odrede svoj tip. Nije ih briga sto tip treba da bude odraz tvog raspolozenja i zahvalnosti u zavisnosti kakvu si uslugu dobio. Jednom bracnom paru sa decom u Havani, koje nismo propisno ni upoznali, niti su ucinili nesto za nas, kupili smo veliko pakovanje Pampersa u vrednosti oko 12 eura. Skakali su od srece, koliko su bili radosni. Nisi siromasan ako nemas - siromasan si ako ne uzivas u onome sto imas ... a svako ima bar nesto.
Zapisao Nenad Ciric godine 2010.
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