The Strange Outsider

Once upon a time, in a small but cozy town, its inhabitants lived very happily, because everyone had their jobs: the shopkeepers in their shops, the blacksmiths in the smithy, the children had no other occupation than being children... And so the years passed. days, days after days, without concern, without anything beyond bothering them, without external influences.

After work, each individual returned to his individuality, to his home, where his greatest concern was what he would put on television tonight; At the risk of making sexist comments, the men watched their soccer game and the wives prepared dinner and bathed their children. Children who, by the way, have a wonderful time being in the streets, playing with their peers and the old people no longer know who to tell their battles. Now their toys are bought in department stores, because no one dares to teach them how to build them anymore.

But one fine day, a stranger passed by who asked for a place to stay for a few days. Once installed in a small pension, this stranger looked around the town and could see that he had fallen into neglect and boredom.

He dared, however, to chat with the old men and discovered that until that moment, no one approached them and therefore, they were surprised that someone did; the stranger subsequently took note of a few things. then he approached a few children who were playing soccer in the square, but there were so few of them, they couldn't form a team; our stranger asked if they knew any other game that was not the king of sports and they said no; the stranger subsequently took note of the boys' comment and left.

Our friend went to the market, which, being rush hour, was full of housewives; The stranger sneaked past the stalls and heard comments such as "I'm so bored with this town!" or "One of these days I'll leave everything"! Thus he was able to verify that the wives had also fallen into the vicious circle of boredom; the stranger took note of these comments and left. After a busy day, he decided to make a stop at the only bar in town, where all the husbands got together once a week to watch, of course, a football game and, between covers, there were complaints and complaints, about the work but above all how badly the footballers of the favorite team present there were playing. The stranger took note and left.

 It was already late, so he went to the pension. That night he couldn't sleep and between turns, his mind was on what happened during the day. He kept wondering how people can so easily fall into neglect. The stranger responded to himself that he may be the result of an accommodating society, from having struggled to have everything to having everything and not wanting to lose it. This man was trying to find a solution. How to get an entire people out of the vicious circle without forcing them?

Well, first he went to the town hall and made an appointment with the mayor, who thought almost the same as his interlocutor and offered our friend a space to summon his fellow citizens... after all, he was an authority and they would pay more attention to him. The appointment was three days later in the main hall of the town hall. Fortunately, many citizens came and it was the evening.

 

First, the stranger introduced himself. His name turned out to be Robert and he stated that he had been studying the cultural life of the towns in the region for a long time and that he had found the same problem in all of them; the natives were somewhat surprised but little by little they recognized that it was true.

According to Robert, he had detected a lot of boredom but also a desire to do things, but no one had told them how. Roberto told him that initiatives must often come from oneself, despite the initial fear of being taken for a crazy person; everyone gave ideas...among them the idea of recovering certain traditions in which everyone, without exclusion, would participate....

Thus, Robert saw that the faces of the attendees were changing. They talked more among themselves, they kept proposing things such as that the older ones tell the others about their experiences, that the parents teach the children to make toys that they made in childhood and that instead of locking themselves in the bar, they could have vervain, putting the innkeeper the treat.

Robert was pleasantly surprised and was invited to stay, but he couldn't because his time at the pension had already ended and he would have to leave the next morning... There were more towns that needed him.

Patricia López Muñoz
Técnico Superior en Animación Sociocultural
Técnico Especialista en Inmigración
Técnico Superior en Integración Social