By Jorge Bacallao Guerra (Joven Cuba)
9 AM
HAVANA TIMES – I’m leaning against the fence of a house in front of the line at one of those stores that sells in MLC (magnetic dollars). I never come to these stores, because they are expensive and there’s nothing really there. But last night, I got a secret notification in a WhatsApp group that they were going to put out boxes of discounted chicken breasts, because they were going to go bad soon. The tip-off wasn’t so secret in the end, because there is a sea of aggressive and explosive people here. I arrived at about 4 AM, and was the third one in line at that time. At 4:35 AM, I was the 8th, and at 5:10 AM, the 21st.
When they finally settled into order to go in, a woman came, observing people’s faces in the line to find the weakest – that is to say, the most polite – and decided on me. She moved me out of the way with a large chair and told me with all the certainty in the world that she was in front of me. I tried to argue, but between me speaking quietly, and unable to ever abuse a wo