The story happens little by little, slowly. When we realized the transformations that took place in the world, we were astonished by so many changes that we had not noticed, we had just become accustomed to them.
What we see today are details, often insignificant, of the new times. Just like aging, things change slowly, without us realizing it. Suddenly, we were shocked.
João looked at himself in the mirror and was surprised. He had become old. He thought about his youth, about everything he had dreamed of doing and never done. He remembered that he had heard or read somewhere that we should have two lives, one to rehearse and one to live. He blamed himself for wanting so much, since he felt happy.
João is a construction worker. During the bus ride to work, he met Maria, his sweet, cheerful and beautiful companion. They fell in love and had a son, José, who is eight years old, a happy, smart and sensitive boy. Maria works in a textile factory.
Because they are well-informed, curious people who like to read, João and Maria are leaders in the community. They give lectures, talk about the importance of citizenship and guide others in the neighborhood to lead a dignified, drug-free, healthy life, although many live in houses without basic sanitation and drinking water, a national shame. The two are different. He is more dreamy, mystical. She is more rational, agnostic. They both want to save the world.
João, Maria and the boy José love football, they go to the stadium and watch many games on television or listen to them on the radio. They don’t like the very late departure times during the week. José studies at a public school. One day he asked the school director why they didn’t also teach different things, about life and the world. The director didn’t understand.
José plays ball on a small sand field near the house where he lives. The boys compete to see who makes the most tackles, makes the most dribbles and scores the most goals. Then they form two teams with eight on each side and play a game. José asked his father if it wouldn’t be good for him to join a football school. The father replied that, in addition to being very expensive, the school would teach many rules and that he was at the age to play with the ball and develop skills and fantasy. His father also said that, if he wanted, he would later try to place him in the youth teams of a professional team, where he would learn the technique and details of the collective game.
João, Maria and José loved the end of the year season to see Santa Claus, the happy people and the illuminated streets and squares. At the same time, they criticized the transitory generosity of many people, as if there were a date for being happy, being good and practicing social justice.
At Christmas and at the end of the year, the three dreamed a lot and woke up excited about life. They had a lot to accomplish. Life without dreams is a void.
Machismo
The sexist and ill-mannered words of the president of Flamengo, Luiz Eduardo Baptista, BAP, are regrettable, when he called the competent commentator Renata Mendonça, from Sportv, a big nose, for having criticized the club’s few investments in women’s football, in which she is right.
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