Times flies by, and I know it is a little late to wish all of you a Happy New Year - but I do, with all my heart.
It is very cold now in Berlin. And empty - the lockdown is rigid (but that is ok) - now we are allowed to meet only one other person who is not living in our household. (Though that is strange too: nowhere you can find out if you are allowed to meet fifty people in your house in succession - one after the other - or only one a day, or a week?)
And those towns and cities with high 7-day incidences can order that people are not allowed to move further than in a 15km radius.
Sounds sensible - but isn't: it means that people here in Berlin are allowed 15 km from the border of Berlin! Meanwhile you can flip through the city (if you are with no consideration for others) on 892 square kilometres as long and often as you want...
I think what really tires us in Germany are the contradictory rules that change daily: do the children have to go to school - or not? (If they have to, they sit in cramped buses!) Do we have ordered enough vaccine or not - or, when I follow the latest news: do we Germans have to be ashamed to want more than is our due? And on and on and on - and each federal state in Germany also can do as it pleases... and does it...
No control anywhere: people who do not wear the mandatory mask on the Ku'damm don't have to pay a fine, because they smoke grinning a cigarette or hold a coffee mug in their hands - and then they are allowed to wear the mask around their neck instead covering mouth and nose.. Honestly: I think that they must have to choose: stay away from those streets if they have to smoke - or wear a mask. Period.
We others then sometimes feel like obeying idiots. Or, worse, are attacked for being obedient: Yesterday a man from Africa boxed very hard into my little leather rucksack when I friendly (!)) asked him to keep the distance from 1,5m. (There was lots of space to do that, no need to rub against my coat).
Come to think of it I (being alone - in bright daylight) was lucky that nothing worse happened - luckily I am tall (1,78m), can look like an attacking tiger over my mask, and have a body language that signals: though I am a woman I will hit back. That makes them overlook that I am old and slender - the mask shows only furious tiger-eyes...
(This photo is a year old, when I walked the catwalk as a silver-model).
Well: I hope that the year 2021 continues in a more friendly way... for all of us.
I do not understand the bad attitude some have about wearing masks. Many people have their noses hanging out over the top and sometimes even their mouths are showing. Even those who don't agree should respect the point of view of others.
ReplyDeleteThe same is happening here, dear Rosemary - but I gave up on "fighting" to persuade them.
DeleteWe have a politician from the very right wing AfD, who hold a speech in the Bundestag with a mask riddled with holes - as a symbol that he does not believe in such nonsense. Later he got Corona and was very sick - but when he left the hospital, he still said that Corona is just a chimera...
Our rules have changed so many times people are just confused. At last, though, they have come up with clarity: "Behave as if you've got it".
ReplyDeleteConfusion here too, Tasker - and as I hear from my Flying Dutchman, in other countries too. In the beginning I understood that well, because nobody knew what to do - now one gets a bit impatient - and in a vivid discussion group on TV a well-behaved epidemiologist became really angry, when one politician said why the EU had haggled over the cost of vaccine...
Delete"Behave as if you've got it" is a very convincing slogan - I am curious whether ad agencies will adopt that - it is a slogan that could make people insightful (maybe...)
I cannot understand why people go to such lengths to avoid wearing a mask. It seems that they out of their way to flaunt the rules concerning the virus.
ReplyDeleteMe neither, dear Emma! The young ones see it as a sort of protest or test of courage, the older ones are just - dumb.
DeleteWe are quite chaotic here. Those who wish to be safe mask up and behave. Those who don't care don't behave. No solution except avoid them or stay home.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Joanne: I wear a mask (outside clot, in a grocery a FFP2-mask) - stay at home constantly I will not, I walk to the nearby park. Of course I do not take a car and drive to the Harz or Winterberg - on TV you could see thousands (!honestly!) doing just that on a week-end, one interviewed mother said "Well, we came because our little Mary (a toddler of two) never had seen snow before, and such a surprise: we stood for hours on the streets with our car because we weren't the only ones who had that marvellous idea to come!" (Next weekend the overrun towns put up barricades on their parking places, and took fines of 50 Euros from everyone without a mask. Another surprise... :-)
DeleteIt seems the lack of compliance is worldwide regarding masks and social distancing. The result, sadly, is hospitals overwhelmed and many deaths. Those deciding to not comply are bold about it as well. Like you, I've had a few encounters. Your photo is lovely, beautifully styled. The vaccine can not come soon enough. Science (vaccines) might be our only hope for getting back to a semblance of normality. In the meantime, we can look forward to better days.
ReplyDeleteDear Susan, I am absolutely with you, in every point. Here we have some difficulties with vaccination, as they didn't order enough doses, the vaccination centres are all put up, but some almost empty because they do not have the vaccine. Then some federal states decided to inform the very elderly - highest risk group - by smartphone or mail - imagine that: many do not know how to use it or do not have that device! Berlin decided to send appointment letters.
DeleteLet's hope that till summer vaccination has happened (here many of the people who care for the elderly in retirement homes do not want to be vaccinated - the government plans to enforce that.
Yes, it is same all over. Best not to get in a tizz about it and look after yourself as you think best. It is horrible to think many are letting this divide. I try to smile every day and think good thoughts about it all.
ReplyDeleteYes, dear Rachel - you are right. I smile behind my mask a lot (and one can see that when one meets people - though nowadays many avoid to look into the eyes, I noticed that). And of course I think twice before I get into an argument - meaning: I avoid that - only when such a type comes and rubs against my coat, deliberately! - then I act, showing I am not a victim.
DeleteNormally it is better to be silent and walk away - people under FFP2masks often get aggressive, maybe their brain gets too little oxygen?
xxx
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