Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 150

“I hate being a kid because my video games are too...

“I hate being a kid because my video games are too hard.”

(Cordoba, Argentina)

“All the workers on my oil platform were laid off five months...

“All the workers on my oil platform were laid off five months ago. I didn’t save the money when I had it. Now it’s been six months since I last worked. I even had to ask my mother-in-law for money last Saturday so I could buy milk for the kids. I have to do something. Maybe I can drive a taxi or something. If I don’t get a job soon, I think the family will break apart. My wife is always asking me what I’m going to do. It’s like she doesn’t even understand what’s happening in the economy right now. Even my four-year-old son feels that something is wrong. He’s started to ask me when I’m going back to work. I lie to him. I tell him I’m on medical leave. I don’t want him to feel this stress too.”

(Buenos Aires, Argentina)

“There weren’t many opportunities to work in Paraguay. I was...

“There weren’t many opportunities to work in Paraguay. I was selling tools on the street. There was no money. There was nothing. I came to Argentina when I was nineteen and life has been so much better. I work every day. I’m close to opening another shop just like this. I do get called a lot of names like ‘Shitty Paraguayan.’ But I’m used to it now. In the beginning I would try to fight back, but not anymore. When I first arrived, I fought a man who tried to stab me through the cage. But he came back with twenty people and destroyed my store. So I don’t fight back anymore. Everyone in the neighborhood knows me now, so I’m treated with more respect. And my son was born in this country. So this one is an Argentinian. He’s going to study.”

(Buenos Aires, Argentina)

“She lost her back legs when she got hit by a car. She’d...

“She lost her back legs when she got hit by a car. She’d already been returned to the shelter twice already. She’s a lot of work. It’s almost like having a child. You need to be very patient. You always need to change her diaper. It’s very hard to find a babysitter. But I’ve had her for 1.5 years now and I can’t imagine life without her. Everyone loves Lucy. And Lucy loves everyone. She can’t wag her tail, so I was worried that I’d never know if she was happy. But she tells me with her eyes.”

(Rosario, Argentina)

“I met him five years ago. He answered an advertisement that I...

“I met him five years ago. He answered an advertisement that I posted for cleaning services. His place was a mess. He was living like a hermit. He was a hypochondriac. His wife passed away in 2007, so he was just sitting around on the computer and waiting to die. Now we are like family. I visit him every day. We have over 5,000 pictures together. We go shopping. We go on walks. He even cooks now. He has given me a purpose. All of his accomplishments make me proud. Sometimes I feel like I’ve created a monster! He’s become a completely different person.“

(Buenos Aires, Argentina)

“Even if we have equal rank, a man always tries to take charge...

“Even if we have equal rank, a man always tries to take charge of the situation.”

(Buenos Aires, Argentina)

“My parents disappeared during the last dictatorship. They...

“My parents disappeared during the last dictatorship. They were political activists. My father was taken first in 1977. My mother was taken a year later during the World Cup. We were standing in a public square, and two cars stopped, and they grabbed me and my mother. They let me go. But my mother was never heard from again. I learned all of this later because I was only three at the time. My grandparents raised me. When I was a child they would tell me that my parents were working. I used to imagine them building a skyscraper, wearing helmets, and getting closer and closer to the top. It wasn’t until the age of ten that I learned what really happened. But even then, my parents were only ideas to me. They were two-dimensional. But when I turned seventeen, I visited the town where they first met. I found their old friends and they told me stories. I learned that my father loved the Beatles. He also loved to dance. A man gave me a costume that my father would wear when he danced. And suddenly my parents weren’t ideas anymore. They were people. They were Daniel and Viviana. And for the first time, I cried for them.”

(Buenos Aires, Argentina)

“He’s not too romantic but he does close himself in the...

“He’s not too romantic but he does close himself in the bedroom while I’m studying for my law exams.”

(San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina)

“I love my brother so much. One time he said he didn’t love...

“I love my brother so much. One time he said he didn’t love me. But then he said that he really did. And then we hugged.”

(Buenos Aires, Argentina)

“It’s a bittersweet time. I’m trying to be happy because it’s...

“It’s a bittersweet time. I’m trying to be happy because it’s said that the baby will absorb sad moments. But my father died five months ago, today. We don’t know exactly what happened. He was alone. We think someone tried to rob him because he was found shot to death in his car. I think it was hardest for me because we were so close. He used to visit me at the hospital every day while I was working. I learned that I was pregnant shortly after he died. I think my pregnancy is what’s keeping our family alive. Especially my mother. She’s always with me now. She gets me everything I need. The baby keeps both of us looking forward. It’s going to be a girl.”

(Buenos Aires, Argentina)