The Cuban Cigarbox.

Monday at lunch time I have duty in our cafeteria. Normally not much exciting happens in those 30 minutes I am in there. However, today I got some kind of surprise as something completely unexpected happened.

At one of the tables a boy sat with a wooden box. And that box immediately caused me to start associating. For many years I have not seen a box like that, and here in Hong Kong never and yet it was so incredible familiar to me and I fact I had to go ask the boy if I could take a photograph of his box.

 

He was a bit sceptical at first as I came up to ask him what was inside. He looked at me as if I was going to blame him for anything.

"This is just my pokermon cards cards he replied and opened the box to show me, as if he would show me it wasn't anything inappropriate.

The bad was a old fashioned cigar box. Rewinding now to my own childhood.

 

I had many cigarboxes as a boy. They were quite common on the countryside in Denmark in the 70ties. Even my mom had some for her collection of buttons in her sewing kit. My dad had them as well in his wood workshop. My brother and I had them for our collection of plastic animals and Cowboys and Indians and maybe some stamps and cuttings from the pop magazines.

With one magical touch all these memories just came up to the surface as I saw this box today. Mesmerising. Must be the word for what I felt.

for so many years I have not seen anything like that box. A lot of Tim boxes, and cardboard and plastic and foam and paper and and and and. But a wooden cigarbox with a matriculate closing mechanism. A little fitted metal lock in it own simple complexity.

As I asked the boy if I could take a picture he just looked at me and nodded. "My dad has got more of them he said."

It was a real one , from Cuba. Just as Fidel Castro dies I see a real Cuban cigarbox at our school in Hong Kong. Some coincidence.

"Do you think he would give me one?" Yes, I really asked the boy that question. Again he just looked at me. "Maybe, I don't know" he said.

Let us see if some day he comes to my office with one of his dad's empty Cuban cigar boxes.