‘Nothing like the people of Puerto Rico’

First, we’re ranked among the world’s happiest. Now, we say we’re “satisfied with our standard of living.” Can someone please explain what in the world is going on?

Two years ago, Puerto Rico was No. 23 on the list of happiest peoples in the world, ahead of places one would think are not just happier, but considerably so— countries like Germany (33), France (44), South Korea (56) and even China with all its growth (125).

Here in the Americas, the island ranked higher than fast-growing countries Chile (35), the Dominican Republic (44) and Perú (66).

Reaction locally was one of shared befuddlement. Happiest? Even after so many years in economic and, we thought, social and cultural depression and decay? Even with more than 1,000 homicides a year and a society presumably mired in the entire opposite of happiness?

Two years later, the happiness puzzle is still the subject of much spontaneous conversation and reflection. The island’s intelligentsia, in fact, has all but declared Puerto Rico the new Japan (81)—you know, the once rising sun in the East that fell into a 20-year (and counting) collective stupor over its own inexplicable inability to get back into a groove.

So you would think that the last thing we needed was…validation!

Yet, here it is. It comes by way of the latest Gaither International, WOSO Radio and CARIBBEAN BUSINESS poll showing that nearly 64% of us—are you sitting down?— are actually satisfied with our standard of living. About 75% think things have always been like this or are getting better.

OK, now that you read that several times and your mind is fastbusy trying to fi gure it out—déjà vu, perhaps?—we believe we have an explanation.

“It is a sociocultural trait that dates back historically,” explained César Rey, renowned University of Puerto Rico sociology professor & former local Education Department secretary.

“We’re an extremely resilient people that have learned over many centuries to let things slide and just have fun no matter the circumstances around us. People simply adapt to their situation and prefer to joke about it, and we see it happening
again during this time of economic need. Everything provokes un vacilón [great fun].”

It is the trait reflected in the classic mid-19th century poem “Puerto Rico,” by José Gautier Benítez, in which he celebrated the joy and hospitality visitors would invariably find in any countryside home, even those ravaged by dire poverty. “May the good Lord take my soul if we’re ever to lose that which is best in our people,” cried the poet.

Today, the trait has become Puerto Rico’s signature attraction in the tourism industry. “There is nothing like the people of Puerto Rico anywhere in the world,” said Olivier Maumaire, the French-born and much-traveled general manager of the El San Juan Resort & Casino, in Carolina’s Isla Verde sector, and a 25-year veteran of the Hilton hotel chain. He should know, after 17 years happily married to a Puerto Rican.

“It’s as if nothing is important, and I say that in a positive way. People are just happy here. It’s truly amazing, and beautiful,” Maumaire said.

THE POLL

The Gaither poll of 1,000 faceto-face interviews in an islandwide representative sample of adults (sampling error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points) asked respondents: How satisfied are you with your current standard of living—all the things you can buy and do? Almost one-third (32%) answered “very satisfied” and about the same number said they were “satisfied” with their standard of living. Barely one-fifth replied, “Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied,” while a small number (7%) said they were “somewhat dissatisfied,” and slightly more (9%) expressed being “very dissatisfied.” Respondents with higher incomes and education were more likely to voice their satisfaction, while nonhigh-school graduates and low income individuals were least likely to agree. No signifi cant gender differences were observed.

“Interestingly, respondents ages 35-54 are likeliest to be ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ unhappy with their current standard of living,” said Beatriz Castro, Gaither vice president. “That’s the age when people expected to be doing better than they’re doing in today’s Puerto Rico,” Rey surmised. “It’s an expression of their frustration with the way things have gone for them.”

Twenty-nine percent of respondents believe their standard of living is improving, while 45% think it’s the “same as always” and only 25% see it “getting worse.” The latter, or sourest, again, tend to be ages 35-54, low-income and low-education. “An interesting finding is that islanders with high socioeconomic levels are the least likely to say things are ‘the same as always,’” Castro said.

BY ALEX DÍAZ

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