We have all heard this quote, " A man's home is his castle". The "castle" can be from a luxurious mansion to the most humble of dwellings and everything in between. But today, I'd like to write a bit about the king of the castle where I live..and perhaps you, too...who is the portero.
The portero, or as many like to be called today, encargado, is somewhat simliar to the super or janitor in many apartments buildings in cities like New York or Chicago, the concierge in Paris or the spravce in Prague.
However, here in Argentina, the portero or encargado (portera/encargada in the case of a woman, not unknown but not that common here) occupies a very special role and place. As with everything, there are always exceptions to the rule so let me in advance appologize to any portero/a or tenants with one who is hard working, realiable and honest; my comments apply to my experiences over the course of 30 years of dealing with my kings and queens of the castle.
Depending on the amount of flats in the building, the portero can work alone or have one or more assistants, called ayudante. The assitant has morning, afternoon or weekend shifts where as the king has Monday to Friday with a Saturday morning. Hours normally run from 0800-1200 and 1700-2100, give or take and here in Argentina, there's much more taking than giving. The portero, in the vast majority of buildings in Buenos Aires, lives in the building normally on the ground or top floor which are, in my opinion, the worst floors on which to live due to heavier foot traffic and flooding possibilities on the ground floor and oppresive heat and possible leaking from the roof on the top floor. The ideal place to live is somewhere in between but let's face it, the portero is getting that place for free! And that's not all that come with the job.
In the capital and greater Buenos Aires, there are some 75,000 porteros and their union SUTERH is very strong.The union is constantly demanding increases for its extended royalty. Just 3 days ago there was yet another proposal to give an additional $380 pesos bonus over a short period of time. In the past 4 years, my expensas ( monthly fees or assesments) have gone up almost 200% but my salary hasn't! And I don't get free housing, free cable tv, phone, gas, electricity, paid vacations, social club memberships, members-only hotels and tour packages at highly reduced rates. Then there are the Christmas and Easter gifts and enveloppes and many ETCs as well as extra pay for doing what should be included in my job description ( like taking out the trash... porteros get additonal pay for this!).
Many buildings want a portero not portera because they feel that a man can perform with greater ease certain tasks and I agree with that. That is when they actually perform these tasks. In another building where I lived, we had a portera out of pity because her husband was tragically killed in a car accident and the widow and young son would be out of the secure environment of provided housing and salary, thus everyone wanted to get her through this difficult time by keeping her on in her late husband's position. THE WORST THING WE COULD HAVE DONE! She did almost nothing and we had to pay for additional workers to do most every other chore. We should have collected money amongst all the tenants and paid a year's rent of accommodation for her...elsewhere. She is still there until this very day with the same results.
In our building the powers that be at the time wanted a male portero with a wife. So our portero did just that and got one. He found a woman who had a small child and offered them accommodation and security in exchange for her saying that she was his wife and mother of his child. Well, she is still there although the portero is taking legal actions to get her out. Most of the bothersome noises come from their apartment due to the violent sounding fights which occur often although that recently has calmed down because the portero sleeps in the apartments to which he has keys when the owners are away. And when they are all back, he stores a mattress in our basement and sleeps there. Unbelievable, right? Sad to say, all too true.
Getting back to the flow of money in the life of a portero.He or she often does little favors for the apartment dwellers like changing light bulbs in high places, looks at a dripping faucet, maybe a little paint job here and there, walks the dog, cleans a neighbor's flat and many other things. Sure, one if not using the services of the portero would have to pay extra for this and that's fine, however, one does pay the portero extra for this. But what happens when the portero does these favors on work time, time I pay for, thus not performing to his or her fullest of the assigned chores and tasks? That most certainly is the scene where I live.
In my building, the portero also seems to have a "cable central" in his patio with more lines than a switchboard of years gone by. And by being "vivo"( meaning cunning or crafty in local jargon) as most Portenos are in one way or another, "cable trucho" or "borrowed" tapped- lines from a cable tv provider are multiplied and sold to those wanting the service but paying much less than as if they were connected legally( funny word here!). Another nice monthly supplement.
Yes, I can say that our portero is out there many days a week with a hose cleaning the streets and the dog crap which is smeared all over the sidewalk due to its inconsiderate and lazy owners. Bucket, broom, and squeegee all visible. BTW, did you know that the "secador de pisos" or squeegee was actually invented in the 1950s here in Argentina? Yes all visible, even sometimes rubber work gloves, rags, bronze cleaner... oh but there is something missing....the portero! Mine show his laborious efforts for the first 45 minutes or so of the day with the flowing water on the sidewalk but then it's mate and factura ..aka croissant.. time. Of course, for the assistants, too. This is when normally the door to the work , HUH work!, place or office is normally closed.
One thing the portero does well is to recieve the newspapers. And according to the subsriber's morning habits of getting up or going to work early, he then can pick and choose from the later risers which paper he wants to read first! He just has to be careful not to spill any mate or leave crumbs from the morning facturas.
Sometimes, when I was naive to this practise, I would open my apatment door and there would be no newspaper at 10 or 11 am. But those weekend editons have more supplements to read and thus require more time. And speaking of newpapers, during that naive phase I just mentioned, as I would often travel for lengthy periods, I would leave the key to my flat with my portero in the case of some emergency. One day, my cousin came to the flat in my absence and couldn't open the door. After pushing and finally having liberated her entry in, to her shock and surprise were the mountains of used newspaper pilled in my entrance way and living room. The portero, although while I am of course convinced of his love for the Amazon jungle and general environmental concern by recycling, was storing his booty within my walls until he could sell them
to the highest bidder.
And being the avid reader that he is, my portero commented on the book that I was carrying on one evening coming home . He was actually near the building, outside talking to the other porteros about the day's gossip; and don't think they don't know everything that's going on: who comes in and out of the building ( they must have a secret camera for this since most of the time they are really never visible to see who enters and leaves); they deliver your mail under the door as we dont have individual mail boxes; and with their keen hearing, they know about fights,discussions and love making on each of the floors.
He made a few comments about the book I was currently reading. I was a bit surprised as it was one of which I didn't think he knew the existance. Oh yes, he told me that he had read it since he borrowed it from my bookshelf while I was in the Antarctic.
The stories could AND DO go on but I won't. It is the begining of the month and time to pay my bills including the expensas to the portero but that like many thing in the land of 1000 surprises is easier said than done.I looked for him twice last night and twice this morning during working hours but he was nowhere to be
found. And now it's after 12 noon so I guess he must be getting his overdue rest break.
So next time you complain about having to take out your own garbage or sweep the floor, just think of the extra groceries and amount of brooms you'll be able to buy because you are the king or queen of your own castle. And no one will even know that you bought them.
SES
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