Yesterday I talked about the mostly empty streets... today I want to rant about that "mostly".
Seriously people! How hard is it to STAY HOME!!! 😡
The police officer I talked to yesterday mentioned stopping and fining people out in the streets on Thursday with bogus excuses (bogus because all the grocery stores, pharmacies etc were closed because of the holiday). I keep seeing people sharing on Facebook articles from our local paper, or national newspapers, about the police in Alicante and elsewhere having to hand out fines for people disobeying the quarantine and not following the instructions of the State of Alarm. In Alicante alone the local police in one week have handed out over 100 fines to people and vehicles. Police yesterday also broke up 3 different house parties and in Barcelona the police apparently had to interrupt an orgy! In Madrid the local government has decided to take a page out of France's playbook and ask people for an sworn written justification of where they live, where they're going and why. The idea is to check the information later when they have time, because the police have been stopping so many people they don't have time to check people's data in the moment and decide whether a fin is required or not.
Tensions are definitely up all around. People are angry at those who are breaking the rules because they see them as a potential cause for this lock-down to go on longer. People who have to work are upset because (1) in many cases they don't have the proper safety gear (masks, gloves, suits etc.) and (2) they feel like their efforts might be for naught if people ignore the quarantine. Self-employed are upset because the government measures to support jobs etc don't cover them and they're asking that the self-employment tax be suspended for the month of March (in Spain it's a fixed monthly quota to social security, independent of how much you have invoiced).
What was cute last weekend as people tried to play games in the first days to get around the rules, is no longer so in a country where the numbers of infected and dead keep increasing daily. We haven't reached the peak infection point yet, and the more people break out, the longer this will take. 😓
There's very good graph in GIF format here that makes it pretty clear.
There's very good graph in GIF format here that makes it pretty clear.
*end rant*
#stayhome #quedateencasa #yomequedoencasa #restecheztoi
Just stay safe! I think everyone around here is definitely following the rules. We are scared.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely scary... Important to keep a positive outlook and take precautions, and hopefully we'll all come through this as unscathed as possible.
DeleteIt's a weird assed time for sure. People here are still taking their kids to the playground like MORONS. Stop doing that. Effing idiots. Plus I don't know, this stay at home thing means my stupid, loud neighbour is home all the time making a noise with power tools while I'm trying to work. I feel tempers are going to fray soon EVERYWHERE. Hope you stay healthy miss!
ReplyDeleteKids at playgrounds touch surfaces touched by other kids... and that's how the virus can get passed from one set of grandparents to another. :(
DeleteLoud neighbors are definitely going to weigh more on all of us by the time we're through!
My son and his wife both work at hospitals directly with coronavirus patients. There is still not enough safety gear to go around for all the medical professionals. I'm self employed and work from home - I now have to get all my work done in HALF the time, and for no additional pay, while my counterparts who usually go into the office everyday now get to stay at home, are not tele-working and yet are getting full pay while they do nothing. Somehow that just doesn't seem fair but nobody cares...
ReplyDeleteDamn! I hope they have access to safety gear... and stay away from other people because unfortunately they will probably catch the virus at some point. They're young and healthy so odds are they should have a mild case - I have 2 friends (doctors in hospitals) who have caught it and fortunately just had a few days of fever, aches and pains (they said it was NOT fun).
DeleteYeah the work situation is creating a lot of imbalances... On the one hand I'm grateful that my job isn't at risk and I can continue working from home. On the other hand I have to put in a full day and get paid the same as others who aren't doing anything... It is what it is! At the end of the day grateful wins.