CHAPTER 81 – THE “TAMOS AÍ” IS POWERFUL AND IT WORKS LIKE A BEAUTY!
This expression of popular parlance was disseminated in the 1970s, as one of those beach slang of the Carioca summers. The youth of the time began to use the expression “we are there”, as if to say “count on me” and its variations. It spread from the beaches of the south of Rio de Janeiro to the kaleidoscope of slang eternalized in everyday language.Its use can make a big difference in people's lives, more for the attitude it reveals and is recognized by people than for its characteristic as a very funny word. Where is the difference in such a banal expression? It's easy to recognize this difference and understand its extraordinary power: when in any situation, in those parts of life where we feel more helpless than a goalkeeper at the time of the penalty kick, all we want is someone to approach us and tell us that is present, along with us, holding our hand and sharing the pain and afflictions!
A phone call, an email, a little arrival at the hospital or at the home of the person who is going through some kind of ordeal, among the many that Life has in store for us for our development and strengthening, only to release a joyful and invigorating “we are there!” it can be EVERYTHING a person needs to feel good. More than a mere greeting, a boring routine like “how are you?” mechanical, repetitive and emotionless of our new forms of interaction, daughters of the absence of connections through social networks, the expression has everything to open up and make smiles and feelings of protection bloom for those who hear it, in certain circumstances, such as the mentioned.
When no one showed up for a word of comfort, then Ronaldo and his radio appeared. transistorized, in the city of Domingos Martins, close to VitĂłria, in EspĂrito Santo. Young, but with some mental retardation, he was known by everyone and was always welcomed with affection, especially by the local people, who knew a detail of Ronaldo's life and habits: wherever there was suffering, in whatever form, it didn't take long and he appeared, after other people had already made their presence felt, to a cheerful “We are there!” It was all he said and did: “we are there!” and nothing else! But the report of the people who were visited by him was unanimous: “It seems that Ronaldo comes, says 'we are there', leaves, but leaves something good with us”.
It was with Ronaldo, more than 40 years ago, that I learned this expression that I always use consciously about its real meaning.
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