Carlos, 63, walks the San Martín pedestrian street in Mar del Plata, Argentina, daily, collecting aluminum cans to survive. His story was revealed in a recent interview with Hernán Danolfo (@hernan_danolfo), influencer and co-creator of the series Stories That Transform.
In the interview, Carlos explained that the cans are paid at a thousand pesos per kilo and that his daily income varies depending on the amount he manages to collect. “Today I collected all these bags, which will be a kilo and a half. Yesterday I made 8,000 pesos, but collecting so many took me a couple of days,” he said. “I do this because no one would give me a job at my age,” he added.
The man recalled his work history in construction and in a sawmill, as well as his adolescence marked by the music of The Beatles. “I listened to The Beatles and was moved by their songs,” he said with a smile.
In a gesture of solidarity, Danolfo collaborated financially with Carlos, who said that thanks to this he could “go to rest earlier”. A fragment of the interview published on the TikTok account of the influencer, which has two million followers, went viral and moved the audience.
Carlos’s story highlights the difficult situation of many older people who, despite having worked all their lives, must find alternatives to cover their basic needs, while memories and music offer him an emotional refuge in the midst of adversity
