Fresh, pure, endless, clean, cold water right out of the ground. I grew up with it. I took it for granted. I miss it.
This week in Cabo Rojo, in our nice little neighborhood, our water has been turned *OFF* on at least 3 different occasions. Let's wash those dishes. Nope. Let's have a nice shower before bed. Nope. Larga vida a Cabo Rojo, the land of luxurious living.
So now I live in Puerto Rico where good water is hard to find even if you buy it in bottles, in my opinion, just in case any of you bottling companies take offense. =) Excuse me... but I don't care if it was bottled in the mountains of Puerto Rico. I don't know which ones. Maybe it had to pass through a few impromptu trash dumps or burned out cars before you collected it and pumped it into bottles. Oh the horror when I see "Bottled in Puerto Rico" on the label.
Whether that water is good and pure enough to drink or not, Puerto Rico, you've given me cause to doubt you.
You can imagine my pleasure this week to find on the shelves of the Pueblo grocery store, some NAYA: Canadian Natural Spring Water from the Laurentians. I embraced it like an actor to an Oscar and loaded up the cart. I was paying for my peace of mind, something I don't get in Puerto Rico any time I pick up domestically bottled water, or turn on the tap at home.
Those Laurentians in Canada; they're nice and clean. On the other hand, couldn't Puerto Rico be described as a collection of litter filled roads connecting land fill to land fill? It's about perspective. I'm not talking about beaches today. I'm talking about water. Guess which one has the competitive advantage in the market for those who at all care about what they ingest? "Life" is quite the unique selling proposition.
We're not in Africa or Indian. We don't have it so bad by comparison. It would be ignorant to suggest otherwise. Yet, can you believe that I was instructed not to move to Puerto Rico when I first announced my intention to do so because I would get hepatitis if I drank the water? Not quite true, right? However, I do wonder where that impression came from so many thousands of miles away in a distant land?
Cabo Rojo - I buy bottled water to drink. We lug gallon after gallon from the grocery store week after week. Could you do us the courtesy of keeping the water flowing? In all my years of living from coast to coast in North America, I've never had my water shut off. At least I have no memory of it. It's been 3 days out of this week already! Why? Please tell me there are some aqueduct, civil, or construction engineers here who can figure out how to maintain service, or at least minimize interruption, and schedule it for off-peak hours only.
It's my fault. I set too high a standard for you. I compare you to any other state in the USA. But you're not. You're lagging behind on crutches.
Cabo Rojo - Fix the water and keep it on please.
The Insider
