Javier Firpo
02/20/2021 3:20 PM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 02/20/2021 3:20 PM
At the back of the room, near the bar, Juan Carlos and Pablo smoke.
One looks at a bare wall, the other at an empty grill.
Next to them, Silvia, who has a coffee, in silence, thoughtful.
The three brothers, the Castros,
have been there for a long time, without saying a word.
Or they have already said it all, in fact, when the economic situation derived from the pandemic led them to
the most difficult decision of their lives: to close El Obrero
, the classic La Boca still life, founded by their parents Marcelino and Lidia.
On Sunday, January 31, the Castro brothers, after much brooding, understood that it was no
longer worth continuing to extend the agony
and lowered the blind of the restaurant opened in 1954. "We cannot believe it, but we were left with no alternative,
every day that we opened was much more money that left than that which came in
. At first, when we reopened in November, we understood that it would be like that for a few weeks, but we could never reverse the situation ", Juan Carlos (59) advances, turning on another Philip Morris.
"There was no point in continuing to open, because the loss was becoming greater and greater. Here we looked at each other's faces with the cook, the barbecue and the waiters, all with folded arms and we had already been talking about whether it was worth continuing to work under these conditions. Always there was a crisis and inflation, what we know about our blessed Argentina, but
badly or well we always look for it, but this was unsustainable,
"adds Pablo, who prefers to walk between the tables.
"Every day that we opened much more money left than came in. At first, when we reopened in November, we understood that it would be like this for a few weeks, but we could never reverse the situation," affirm Silvia, Pablo and Juan Carlos Castro. Photo: Martín Bonetto
After three in the afternoon on a Friday in February, a time when there were usually no unoccupied tables.
Now it is
shocking to see the void, the silence deafens, the room seems immense
.
Despite the bleak landscape, the walls -except for one- are still dressed in T-shirts, banners and scarves alluding to football clubs, there is an original All Blacks T-shirt and many framed photos of celebrities from the show and from sports.
"We have already started to take down pictures of celebrities from abroad, so that they do not get damaged", says Silvia one of the bare walls of the room.
After more than eight months closed for quarantine, on November 24, El Obrero reopened but only during the day shift, from 12 noon to 4:30 pm.
The reopening meant an investment of half a million pesos in paint, air conditioning, kitchen and gas fixes "because
this is a very old room so the deterioration being closed is greater
. And then we had to re-decorate the walls to give it back. their identity, because
El Obrero is synonymous with identity
".
Silvia, Juan Carlos and Pablo resumed the activity crouching, with suspicion and caution.
They knew it would never be like before the pandemic
.
"We set ourselves a period of three months, until the end of February, but knowing that between December and January, as the Government had promised, there would be 5 million vaccinated, tourism would return slowly and people would be a little more comfortable.
None of that It happened, that's why we brought forward the closing of the premises by almost a month
, "Silvia says with tears in her eyes.
When the bodegón reopened on November 24, the Castro brothers were crouched, cautious.
"We set a three-month deadline, but nothing changed, that's why we brought the closure forward by one month." Photo: Martín Bonetto
Juan Carlos looks at her helplessly.
Pablo is going to prepare another round of coffee.
"
With the newspaper on Monday, today the best thing would have been not to have opened it
, we would have saved a lot of money, bad blood and headaches, but it is a bit contradictory, because we would have reproached ourselves for not having tried", mutters the older of the Castro.
"
Lowering the blind was the best decision
, Juan Carlos, the best but the saddest," Silvia seeks consolation, whose hand seeks her brother's shoulder.
Pablo arrives with the coffee and sugar cubes, almost extinct.
"When are we going to start getting things out?" He asks.
"We are going to go looking, but it will be in the next few days because they are going to spoil.
We have a box where we keep on the one hand the shirts and scarves
, on the other hand the flags and also different trophies that they brought us and that they made. to the distinction of the place. Luckily we have a storage to protect this sentimentally valuable material ", slides Silvia.
They are seen to be very close, affectionate and in solidarity with the brothers
, who have worked for more than 35 years within these walls, unfolding and postponing their lives for this world ... which is their life.
"
Dad didn't want us to work here, he always insisted that we study
, that we have a profession, but we, each one at the time, began to come and give a hand, until we became multitaskers, because the three of us have been young men. , glass washers and customer charges. And this place is our life, I don't know if it's the best life, but it's what we have, "says Pablo.
"Dad didn't want us to work here, he always insisted that we study, that we have a profession, but we, each one at the time, began to come and give a hand", recognize Silvia, Juan Carlos and Pablo Castro. Photo: Martín Bonetto
The traditional still life of La Boca has just lowered its blind.
Where will El Obrero's sentimental treasures go?
"For now we are going to keep everything in boxes that we will keep in a storage box." Photo: Martín Bonetto
Juan Carlos listens to his brother and limits.
"
Dad thought it would be eternal and left his life in here
believing that he had years ahead of him. And one day he got sick, had Alzheimer's and bye ... This has to be a teaching for us, that although we are spent and exhausted, we hope have a few years ahead. "
Pablo and Silvia agree.
"Dad rented this place for fifty years and was
only able to buy it in 2004, when he had already declared the disease
. So we also have to think about our lives with our families, perhaps outside of this beloved place."
The Castro brothers make it clear that
they do not want to politicize, "that the closure is not because of the Alberto Fernández government
, we had already been in decline since 2019 with Mauricio Macri. It happens that this country is unviable from where you look at it ... tax pressure is suffocating, "slides Juan Carlos.
"A restaurant like this in Europe or the United States, its owners spend half the year in Ibiza, but
we could not unplug for fifteen days
, we had to be because if we left we would harm a brother", Mecha Pablo.
"Whoever wants a store to attend to it, but to sell it"
, complements Silvia.
"This is what our father said, who had a hard time delegating and the same thing happened to us. Anyway, those who don't know our business, imagined that this place was almost always full, it
was a gold mine, and unfortunately nothing further than that
. I don't know if it was because we didn't handle it well, which I don't think, but we never felt that we could do the plank. We had to be there, we had to put our bodies in and the
three of us always knew that without that commitment, the bowling alley would go away. itch
".
Quite a symbol.
A waiter's apron hanging on a hanger, along with the price list valid until the end of January Photo: Martín Bonetto
The recognizable living room with those old tables and chairs, typical of still life Photo: Martín Bonetto
Juan Carlos seems to be the "interpreter" of the current situation, Silvia the one who understands that it
is necessary to "cut to the chase"
, while Pablo is the one who accepts the decision of his older brothers.
"Dad did not talk much, he was a man of action, but surely
today he would be sad because the place he founded ceases to exist.
The old man would have told us: 'I told you not to come here, study, do another thing. 'But this work was stronger, we got in alone without anyone asking us, "describes the older.
"Everything is teaching, you learn from the good and the bad
. The learning that this moment leaves us is that we don't have to fall in love with walls, cars, inanimate things. They are walls that will see people go by. Our old men have passed, we will pass, but the three of us are still there, so
we have to understand that the cycles are fulfilled, they end
, no matter how much it hurts ".
Silvia's eyes fill with tears again.
Pablo stirs his coffee, who doesn't want to look at Juan Carlos, who is visibly down, or at Silvia, who is trying to compose herself.
"At the time we had
offers to sell the place, but we didn't want to know anything
. Many asked us and were interested, it was always an attractive still life from the outside, what's more, everyone saw El Obrero as an opportunity to fill up on twine ... and nothing to see. But hey, today the conditions are different, and
if an offer came
,
we would listen to it,
"says the minor.
Every day the Castros meet in the room that, from the street, looks dull, with the blind down and a plaque of Site of Cultural Interest that seems confused.
They say they need to come, be there, because these
are moments to make decisions, order and also numbers
, since there are still debts to pay.
"Friends and acquaintances approached with the firm intention of lending us money to stay open, but
it is not a matter of money, it is a matter of work
. Between inflation, the resounding fall in tourism, the rise in prices and the people who he is afraid and has no money ...
we do not see light at the end of the tunnel, "
the three agree.
All three sigh.
Silvia tries to force a smile that comes out reluctantly, Juan Carlos's pale pale eyes paint him full-length, Pablo looks undaunted.
"When you stop enjoying yourself,
when coming is a pain, when you can't sleep because your head is craving how to pick up this dead man
, signals become too loud not to give them a ball," Silvia and Juan Carlos shout out.
"On top of this, this took us very hard, we don't have the strength or energy that we had at thirty or forty years old."
They walk around the room like they are tourists
.
Juan Carlos stops in front of a sepia image of Ringo Bonavena.
Silvia is distracted by the dessert price list, written in chalk, while Pablo hangs his wine-colored work apron on a wall.
"
The prospects are not encouraging
. Economists say that only in 2023 we will be like in 2019, which for us was a slide. What future do we have? Get sick?
We do not want to follow the fate of our old man
."