Lessons from Cuba

A frequently asked question, a common saying, and a conversation from my month-long trip to Cuba in the summer of 2004 taught me a lot about the whole concept of lifeworks. The question came up whenever someone found out I work in a college setting. Que es tu asignatura? To me it sounded like, what is your “signature”? The word simply signifies one’s field or discipline, but I love the connection with the English word, thinking about how our specialty becomes in a real sense our “signature” in life, how we “make our mark.”

The saying that I heard over and over was el que nace para martillos, del cielo le caen los clavos. Translated, for the one who is born to hammer, nails fall from the sky. Behind this expression is the sense that everyone has a particular work to do in the world, and the world will always provide opportunities for that work to be done. I heard it from all sorts of people: a mechanic, a farmer, a clown, and a minister.

That’s not to say the world will always pay you for your work, and this is where the conversation comes in. A couple was arguing about the benefits and failures of the socialist revolution in Cuba, and why so many young people are drawn to the economic promise of the U.S. The man was very critical of the Cuban system, taking as his main example how doctors work for only $20 a month, while in Florida their work is valued so much more; they can provide for their families and have nice homes and nice cars. In Cuba, a brain surgeon might have had to ride his bicycle five miles to work that morning, and then go in and do surgery. The woman had a different perspective. She believed that being a doctor was a calling, a privilege to serve your community, and you shouldn’t do it for the ability to drive a fancy car. The important thing was that everyone in Cuba had free health care.

When I got home, I was listening to a radio show about doctors in Chicago who have started bicycling to work, to relieve the stress of rush hour traffic. The Cuban woman would love that.