I recently read an article in the Canadian publication, Walrus that forced me to ask myself some seriously heartfelt questions. The article was about a middle class couple who had travelled to Cuba and had an interesting and unexpected experience with ‘tipping’. Initially, the article  had intrigued me not because of the tipping subject matter, but because of the country in question. I just happened to be travelling to Cuba in a few days, and though it was certainly not the first time I’d been there, it’s a country who’s politics and social dynamic changes at the drop of a hat, as I was about to learn from this eloquently spoken Canadian gent.

Canadians make up nearly 80% of the tourist population that comes to Cuba every year. We’re so influential that most Cuba tour guides speak Spanish, English and French. Which is great if you’re French Canadian, but not so much if you’re a West Coast Canadian who left their French back in grade eleven! It just makes everything take so much longer when you’re on a tour. But I digress. In the article in question entitled, “On Tipping in Cuba”, author Chris Turner describes a poignant moment during his trip when his private tour guides snatches money out of Chris’s hand and says nothing. Like most sensible Canadians, he struggled to not be offended but had a bit of an epiphany as he reminisced about his time on the island.

He and his wife had hired a tour guide to take them around the island and if you’ve never been to Cuba, a word of advice, that truly is the way to see the island. Most people book themselves into an all-inclusive, take the odd excursion, but spend the rest of their time getting inebriated, and baking their skin on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. While soaking in the Caribbean sun is most definitely a favourite past time of mine when I touch down, I get really bored just sitting around, watching overweight stuff their faces at the buffet, and get sloppy drunk on cheap alcohol. So I always book myself for a handful of excursions so I can actually experience some culture. The best restaurants found in Cuba are in people’s backyards, and the best music can be heard on just about any street corner. Cuba is the most delightful assault on the senses anyone could ask for. But again, I digress, so let’s get back to the topic at hand, Chris’s epiphany.

The average wage in Cuba is 350 Cuban pesos per month. That basically converts into a pittance when you realize that it can cost the average Cuban 40 pesos per kg of beef! So when Chris’s tour guide took the ten dollar bill out of his hand without hesitation, he realized that his ten dollars in the grand scheme of his own life, was next to nothing. He made ten to twenty times that per hour, yet his Cuba guide had spent two days with Christ and his wife, drove them around, showed them the sights, provided an extensive history lesson, why shouldn’t he receive a tip? While we march on Wall Street and plead poverty (which many of us are), when we travel to countries like Cuba, we are without a doubt, the ONE PERCENT. Especially when you’re talking about country where the current regime forbids its citizens to leave their own country. The fact that we own a passport that allows us to travel where we wish, is a gift.

We are so rich. Maybe not rich in monetarily, but we’re certainly rich in freedom. Never forget that.