Nobel Alfonso: Cualquieras vs. Gentes

By Hector Felix

Bronx Journal Staff Writer

On February 27, Dominicans celebrated the 168th anniversary of the Dominican Republic’s independence from Haiti. The Lehman College Dominican Student Association commemorated the day with an event promoting the release of Nobel Alfonso’s new book, “Cronicas desde Una Sociedad de Gente Cualquiera” (Chronicles from a Society of Anybodies).

Nobel Alfonso is a writer and radio personality from the Dominican Republic. In this fictional work, Alfonso tries to illustrate what he believes is a disturbing trend in Dominican society — a tendency to reward or ignore bad behavior. He believes that this leads to a culture of cualquieras, or anybodies, instead of a society of gentes, or somebodies.

Alfonso explains that to be a gente, you have to have morals, and make sound decisions in everyday life. On the other hand, a cualquiera would do anything without thinking about the consequences or the impact on others. For example, parents might applaud a misbehaving boy as being a tiguere, saying he will be a real man when he grows up. Or, someone who might choose to study on a Saturday night, instead of partying, might be called a pariguayo, or a nerd.

Let’s say an accident happens, and somebody is badly injured and needs help. A “somebody” would call an ambulance and try to help. An “anybody” might take a picture, insensitive to the victim’s suffering.

Alfonso asked the audience what they believed constitutes being a gente. “Being somebody is getting on a plane from New York to Dominican Republic… and listening to what the stewardess says. [It is] being obedient. Being somebody is to talk in a normal voice and maintain silence.”

“Only a society of somebodies will thrive,” Alfonso said.