We drove to the gas station and on our way passed a long long line of cars. Steph stuck her head out the window trying to figure out where they were headed. We were in Argentina for the weekend and staying in San Martin de los Andes which is known for its outdoor activities, mt biking, hiking and skiing, so at first, we assumed something really exciting going on. As we pulled up close to the gas station…it quickly became clearer that that line was for gas. Ok, “let’s just go up the road to the other gas station and get gas there must be rush hour.”
Nope… the line went on for what was over 200 cars and a little quick math told us that it would be about two hours or more before we got gas- that is if the line was moving and if there actually was gas. This time our brains obviously went elsewhere.
Flashback…22 years ago Seth and Steph were living in Ecuador for the year teaching. The wages we were being paid was automatically deposited into our Ecuadorian bank account. About 3 months into our stay, our principal called a meeting for all teachers and said the banks are striking and will close by end of day and there will be no money. She said but don’t worry I have released your pay early today so that you can go direct from school to the bank. I think the translation took us a bit to really figure out what was happening. We were unfortunately familiar with strikes in Ecuador only the one we had experienced was with the buses which shut down all buses for a week which led to no school. This time it seemed a bit more impactful ie. that all the money for anyone that had money in the bank and that we had (which for us was small as we had just graduated from College and were living from month to month off our pay in a developing country) was likely no longer accessible.
We jumped in a taxi and headed to what we felt was the safest bank to go to try to take out money out. We arrived and the line wrapped >200 persons out the door of the bank. We stood in line with people yelling and demanding money. The hard part was standing in line with women with children and them crying and knowing they will have no way to eat. Seth and I felt the feeling that we may be without money but the gravity for others was much greater and heart wrenching and scary to be part of. Fortunately, the bank did not go under, but the instability, made us recognize how fortunate we are to be US citizens.
So back to the gas line…
We both looked at one another and immediately said something else is going on. We decided to not be in the line today and get some food before what may be a long time sitting. We asked our server at dinner and she said, oh there was a huge fire at the Argentina gas plant and 3 people were killed so the gas workers are striking. She went on to also share that San Martin de los andes has the only gas stations (two of them) within ~25 kilometers.
A strike. Was there gas still? When would it restart? That feeling of insecurity was felt throughout our bodies. After hours in line, we were able to fill the tank. A much quicker remedy than the bank but stirred up all sorts of thoughts.
We as a family are lucky to have security in so many areas of our lives on a usual basis. We don’t worry about the stability of the bank where we keep our money or that we will not have enough gas to get to work. A day like this luckily for us was just a good reminder of how fortunate we are.