The doorman and his guardian angel
Life is finally back on track after the cyclone in Porto Alegre. This Friday, after the storm had passed, I went to visit my mother to see if everything was going well, and was greeted at the gate by Antônio. Sitting on a bench with his legs stretched out in front of him and a gourd of mate in his hands, he looked at me with the calm air of someone who welcomes visitors sitting in his living room.
- What's up, Mr. Antônio? How are things going?
- Oh, Mrs. Vera, everything is fine now. Have you come to see your mother? She's just left! She said she was going to the grocer's...
- Again? But I took her to the market yesterday!
- Leave her alone, ma'am. It's good exercise for her health. Elderly people have to walk a bit every day.
- Well then, let's use this time to continue our conversation from the other day, shall we? You were going to show me your artwork...
- Oh, yeah... But the landlady asked me not to do it here in the lobby. Now I don't know how I'm going to make a few extra bucks. If I can't sell my art, I'll have to appeal to my guardian angel again!
- What do you mean, Antonio?
- oh, you'll like this story.
"I was still young and working as a doorman for the first time in my life. I only earned a minimum wage, which was barely enough to pay the bills. One day I went to the bank to withdraw some money, but there was nothing left in the account. I didn't know how I was going to buy the bread and milk I had to take home! So I decided to walk home and use the money from the bus fare to buy the bread."
"I was walking down the street, praying to my guardian angel to help me, when I saw, in a corner of the sidewalk, what looked like three checkbooks lying on the ground. I approached curious and discovered that they were actually three food vouchers. Each voucher was worth around U$8 at the time. I quickly did the math and saw that there was a lot of money there. I looked around and, as there was no one I could return the vouchers to, I decided to keep them!"
"That day, I came home full of supermarket bags. There was everything in the bags. I even bought meat for a barbecue. When my wife saw all that, she asked me, 'What's this, man? Did you rob a bank?" The following weekend we had a barbecue and invited the whole family. It was a party while the coupons lasted!"
"After a while, the lean season was back. Things were difficult again. I'd gone downtown to sort out some problems and took the opportunity to have lunch at the municipal market. Back then, the city center was busy, it wasn't as abandoned as it is today. There were people everywhere, including many pickpockets. The market was also full of people, with the smell of good food in the air."
"As I had very little money in my pocket, I had to make do with just a small snack. While I waited for the pastry to be fried, I leaned against the counter of the snack bar to drink the sugarcane juice. Standing there, I could see everyone sitting comfortably at the table, in front of a plate full of food and a glass of draft beer, while I, squeezed in among the other customers at the counter, only had a glass of watery sugarcane juice in my hand. Soon after me came a fat, paunchy gaucho from the border, wearing a bombacha. He was a typical country man: friendly and talkative. After ordering a large number of pastries, he started chatting to me while we waited for the frying to be done. His conversation was good and I started to get amused again. I noticed that, while he was talking to me, he was patting a pocket of his corduroys, where he had something very bulky stashed."
"When his pastries arrived, steaming, he fumbled around looking for the napkins and the pepper sauce. It was at this point that a group of pickpockets reached into his pocket and pulled out some rolled-up banknotes held together with rubber bands. But the man was quicker and grabbed the kids by the throat. He shook the boys in the air, while scolding them for their bad behavior. When the boys saw that they weren't going to get off that easy, they threw the bundles of banknotes into the air. The ties broke and the notes scattered everywhere. At that moment, people came running from everywhere, trying to collect the notes that had been taken from the man. In the confusion, the boys broke free and ran off in the direction of Praia Street, with the man running after them."
"I had managed to get some notes, with the intention of returning them to the owner. But when the man disappeared down Praia Street, I didn't know what to do. I looked one way, looked the other, and ended up stuffing the notes in my pocket, afraid of being seen by someone I knew. It was only when I got home that I counted the money. There was more than U$100! We had another party at the house. But you know that famous proverb, don't you? 'Money burns a hole in your pocket' ... and once again, the joy was short-lived."
"A while later, I was walking with my wife through the city center. When we passed the window of an electrical appliance store, she saw the latest washing machine launch from Brastemp: a washing machine with a glass lid! You could see the laundry spinning around inside while it was being washed. My wife went crazy and almost hugged the machine. 'What a beautiful thing, pity I'll never have one of these in my lifetime!' she said. 'Have faith, woman! You never know what life might bring you,' I said to her, holding, between my thumb and forefinger, the little saint hanging around my neck , a gift from my godmother."
"Back then I used to bet on LOTO. I even had a list of lucky numbers, written on a piece of paper stuck to the wall at home. The following week, when I went to check the LOTO results, I discovered that I had hit the QUADRA! When I saw the result, I thought I was dreaming. I took the winning ticket and my documents and went to the Caixa Econômica agency to see if it was true. When I got there, I wanted to receive all the money on the spot, in cash. The money I brought home was so much that it covered the entire dining room table! When I arrived at the appliance store two days later, dressed as usual in shorts and flip-flops, the salesman didn't even pay me any mind. I'm sure he thought I couldn't afford the machine. But I bought the washing machine for cash, and I even gave the salesman a tip!"
- Mr. Antônio, that guardian angel of yours is really powerful! Can you teach me how to pray to him?
- Yes, he is powerful. But you also have to know how to talk to him. He can't read thoughts, so if you want to ask for help, you have to do it loud and clear. And with faith. But do you need it, ma'am?
- Everyone needs help with something, Mr. Antônio. Everyone.
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