Pic of Cubans at dominoes in Irma floodwaters sparks debate

[Judi Lynn]

Michael Weissenstein and Andrea Rodriguez, Associated Press
Updated 1:36 pm, Friday, September 15, 2017



HAVANA (AP) — As Hurricane Irma flooded the working-class neighborhoods behind Havana's seaside Malecon, a photographer for the Cuban Communist Party newspaper watched two men pulling broken furniture out of the calf-high water.

Nearby four others sat on plastic chairs playing dominoes in the filthy water, which reached halfway up their legs to a makeshift wooden table balanced on their knees. Juvenal Balan snapped a photo and posted it online with a comment declaring it "incredible" that the four were playing while "others work together to mitigate the damage."
 
Then, something unexpected happened. The photo went viral and ignited a furious and complicated debate about the state of Cuban society.

Many on the island and in Cuba's sprawling international diaspora saw Sunday's scene as a textbook example of "social indiscipline," a commonly heard phrase in the country that's used to bemoan the flouting of prized civic values like cleanliness, politeness and helping one's neighbors. But for others the photo symbolized another, equally Cuban quality: good-humored resilience in the face of difficulty, even disaster.

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Pic-of-Cubans-at-dominoes-in-Irma-floodwaters-12200699.php

[msongs]

1. picking up chairs (foreground) does not make water recede nt

[yallerdawg]

2. Cuba is so stuck in the past.

[elehhhhna]

3. I hope they don't see the picture of our friend Charlie from Katie Texas,

Sitting in a lawn chair in front of his house and 3 feet of water, drinking a beer smoking a cigar . Of course he's an old white guy with a half million home.


People should just shut the fuck up already.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Terrific! That sounds like something anyone might want to do for a black humor funny photo.

It would be great to see his photo run in their newspaper.

That would shut up a few sour grapes.

[Warpy]

5. Exactly. Thank you.

Given the same level of flood water in NYC, I could see public chess tables still in use, also.

I don't know why the hell anyone would have a problem with this. Perhaps they'd rather have someone standing over these people with a whip and a gun and not allowing them to take a break into normalcy after a disaster.

ETA: the guys pulling soggy furniture out of the water look more to me like they want to join in, not make the domino players look bad for not having a fucking Protestant work ethic 100% of the time.