Zu Verschenken: Time
March 18
I feel bad throwing out my disinfectant spray bottle with a few dribbles still in it; it may be worth 50 Euros an ounce, soon. Available only drop by the micro-dosed drop in Gorlitzer Bahnhof.
Ah, well.
March 19
I go for a walk, then work, then go for another walk.
Keep finding loads of Zu Verschenken ("to give away") boxes on the ground, chock full of stuff; probably no one wants to touch other people's old things in case some of it's infected while, at the same time, everybody has more time to clear out all their secret underfloor catacombs and bomb shelters and make way for... even more toilet paper, I guess?
A friendly East Indian man sees me eyeing some books in the road near Rummelsburger Bucht. He starts shaking his head gently and saying, 'Aber nicht fassen. Nicht fassen' as I stop for a closer look. I reassure him, I have no intention of touching those books. Though it's hard to fight the reflex to pocket free stuff wherever possible when your income's been sliced in half, I've got to admit.
Now I pass by a box that's totally empty apart from its Zu Verschenken sign. Must've been full of something good. I wonder what? I'm picturing a real COVID19 haul of stuff like antibacterial wipes, bleach, a box or two of Acyclovir. A pandemic starter pack!
March 20
The importance of sunshine and humour on our immunity is being rigidly ignored by the "#StayTheFuckHome" and "#StayTheFuckUpdated" (I just made that up) brigades on Twitter. There's got to be a balance between looking after the body and looking after the mind; mood is intrinsically connected to immunity, as this rather dry, humourless research into laughter's impact on our health concludes.
It looks like one side of the population is only thinking about the body, insulating itself from possible viruses by hiding from the world and all its inspiring possibilities; while the other is only thinking about its mood by going on as normal, coughing and sneezing on one another like it's all a big joke. Or getting their kids to do it, which is even more sad.
It's not as simple as not consuming the wrong things. You've got to consume the right things, as well. The people on both 'sides' are only 50% right, and should probably give more concessions to one another's ideas if they don't want to get sick. (Note: This comment could apply to almost anything being discussed online, these days).
But the politicians have got them convinced that being 50% of something is as good as being 100%. Politicians who are voted in to impose one-sided ideas on infinity-sided populations. A half is equal to a whole, in their world.
Now those polarisations have filtered down to the people and they are convinced that a single side of any issue is where they need to be. Everyone's crowding themselves in to the extreme ends of the spectrum, while the common ground just sits there, disused, between them. Then someone comes along and expropriates it: a speculative investor. A neat sleight-of-hand trick, and very profitable to any administration that manages to sell it to the body politic. It's also simpler for an inefficient, 2-party model of government to stick to sorting out 1 side of an issue at a time.
Walking, walking, walking.
I see two big groups of kids playing in the park. They meet, merge and form a super group of snivelling, sweaty bodies, all laughing, screaming and shouting in each other's faces. I simply cannot take all this social distancing going on, I think. Please, stop.
Then I see the exhausted parents trailing the pack: two pairs of seem to be on the hook for this entire 11-child brood. The faces of people who could use a few less kids...is that why they're being so laissez faire about this whole pandemic thing?
All those people who have ever said that such-and-such thing "could never happen in a month of Sundays" will soon find out if that's true. With all the bars, clubs and shops closed, and only parks to hang out in, we have got a whole Month of Sundays ahead of us. Some people say that something like Universal Basic Income could never happen "in a month of Sundays." Doesn't that mean it might just happen, now? (Is this why Germany's carefully avoiding the topic of compensation for us of out-of-workers? Is that too big a can of worms to open in a diary??)
A cafe that I usually go to grabs my eye for the simple fact that it's actually open, serving coffees through a hatch. It's like a highlight of my week to sit outside with a fresh-made, barista-made, flat white. Yummy, just like they made it back in the old days. Before all this started.
That was just last week, in case you're already losing track.
Time is a currency that no one but the person using it can decide the value of.
.
I feel bad throwing out my disinfectant spray bottle with a few dribbles still in it; it may be worth 50 Euros an ounce, soon. Available only drop by the micro-dosed drop in Gorlitzer Bahnhof.
Ah, well.
I go for a walk, then work, then go for another walk.
Keep finding loads of Zu Verschenken ("to give away") boxes on the ground, chock full of stuff; probably no one wants to touch other people's old things in case some of it's infected while, at the same time, everybody has more time to clear out all their secret underfloor catacombs and bomb shelters and make way for... even more toilet paper, I guess?
A friendly East Indian man sees me eyeing some books in the road near Rummelsburger Bucht. He starts shaking his head gently and saying, 'Aber nicht fassen. Nicht fassen' as I stop for a closer look. I reassure him, I have no intention of touching those books. Though it's hard to fight the reflex to pocket free stuff wherever possible when your income's been sliced in half, I've got to admit.
Now I pass by a box that's totally empty apart from its Zu Verschenken sign. Must've been full of something good. I wonder what? I'm picturing a real COVID19 haul of stuff like antibacterial wipes, bleach, a box or two of Acyclovir. A pandemic starter pack!
March 20
The importance of sunshine and humour on our immunity is being rigidly ignored by the "#StayTheFuckHome" and "#StayTheFuckUpdated" (I just made that up) brigades on Twitter. There's got to be a balance between looking after the body and looking after the mind; mood is intrinsically connected to immunity, as this rather dry, humourless research into laughter's impact on our health concludes.
It looks like one side of the population is only thinking about the body, insulating itself from possible viruses by hiding from the world and all its inspiring possibilities; while the other is only thinking about its mood by going on as normal, coughing and sneezing on one another like it's all a big joke. Or getting their kids to do it, which is even more sad.
It's not as simple as not consuming the wrong things. You've got to consume the right things, as well. The people on both 'sides' are only 50% right, and should probably give more concessions to one another's ideas if they don't want to get sick. (Note: This comment could apply to almost anything being discussed online, these days).
But the politicians have got them convinced that being 50% of something is as good as being 100%. Politicians who are voted in to impose one-sided ideas on infinity-sided populations. A half is equal to a whole, in their world.
Now those polarisations have filtered down to the people and they are convinced that a single side of any issue is where they need to be. Everyone's crowding themselves in to the extreme ends of the spectrum, while the common ground just sits there, disused, between them. Then someone comes along and expropriates it: a speculative investor. A neat sleight-of-hand trick, and very profitable to any administration that manages to sell it to the body politic. It's also simpler for an inefficient, 2-party model of government to stick to sorting out 1 side of an issue at a time.
March 21
Walking, walking, walking.
I see two big groups of kids playing in the park. They meet, merge and form a super group of snivelling, sweaty bodies, all laughing, screaming and shouting in each other's faces. I simply cannot take all this social distancing going on, I think. Please, stop.
Then I see the exhausted parents trailing the pack: two pairs of seem to be on the hook for this entire 11-child brood. The faces of people who could use a few less kids...is that why they're being so laissez faire about this whole pandemic thing?
March 22
All those people who have ever said that such-and-such thing "could never happen in a month of Sundays" will soon find out if that's true. With all the bars, clubs and shops closed, and only parks to hang out in, we have got a whole Month of Sundays ahead of us. Some people say that something like Universal Basic Income could never happen "in a month of Sundays." Doesn't that mean it might just happen, now? (Is this why Germany's carefully avoiding the topic of compensation for us of out-of-workers? Is that too big a can of worms to open in a diary??)
A cafe that I usually go to grabs my eye for the simple fact that it's actually open, serving coffees through a hatch. It's like a highlight of my week to sit outside with a fresh-made, barista-made, flat white. Yummy, just like they made it back in the old days. Before all this started.
That was just last week, in case you're already losing track.
Time is a currency that no one but the person using it can decide the value of.
 |
| Milja und Schaefe in OstX is still doing coffee! Minor miracle!! |
.
My life isn't usually as quietly vacant as this. I work in / write for a club, and if nothing else it is loud. And it's full.
When I get home, I check out the United We Stream site. It's a collective of Berlin clubs throwing lockdown parties each week, streaming live mixes from Tresor, Kater Blau and hopefully some from my own club (Mensch Meier) so I can imagine standing behind the bar doing the techno twist. Maybe I will even leave myself some nice tips, so I can go out and treat myself to another Flat White!
Stay healthy, people: mentally and emotionally as well as physically. Get some sunshine and laugh a bit. That's an order.
Stay healthy, people: mentally and emotionally as well as physically. Get some sunshine and laugh a bit. That's an order.
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