Translator: Unstated, Yoani Sánchez
Photo: Orlando Luis Pardo LazoSome years ago I had a verbal tic that I
interspersed between sentences. A repeated, "You know what I mean?"
capable of annoying even my most understanding friends. I said it at the
least appropriate times and one day someone gave me a lesson, "Why do
you think I don't understand you? Isn't it you who doesn't know how to
explain?" Language has this ability to undress us and leave us open;
words reveal what we hide under a veneer of good cheer. Social networks
in particular have become a gateway through which we travel in our
undergarments before the scrutiny of readers, friends and a vast legion
of critics. Each monosyllable we write for these conglomerates of
opinion give us away and strip us bare.
I remember when I started with Twitter my voice was more awkward, less
familiar with the plurality that a space like this harbors. Since August
2008, when I opened my account on this microblogging service, every
slice of 140 characters published has made me a more tolerant and
respectful person. Hence my surprise when Mariela Castro responded to
the question I posed in a tweet: When will we Cubans come out of the
other closets?
The personal attack with which she responded stunned me. I did not
expect a hand extended in dialog, certainly, but neither did I expect
arrogance. It's true that I need to study, as she suggested, and I will
do so and continue to do so until my eyes can no longer distinguish the
lines in my books and my rheumatic fingers can no find the keys on the
keyboard. However, I have learned that to evade a question by attacking
the other's lack of education borders on arrogance. Faced with such a
reaction, what kind of onslaught would a peasant who barely finished
sixth grade receive, were he to address the director of the National
Center of Sex Education?
I believe, however, that in the manner of that silly catchphrase I once
had, verbal attack is a habit that can be cured. The voice can be
trained, tolerance acquired, the ear opened to listening to others.
Twitter is a magnificent therapy to achieve this. I suppose that as the
days pass and as Mariela Castro continues to publish, she will come to
better understand the norms of democratic dialog, without hierarchies,
where no one tries to give lessons to anyone. When this time comes, I
hope we can converse, have a coffee, "study" together — why not? — the
long and difficult road that lies ahead for us.
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