I sat last night....in the midst of Germans (having just met them), and the very first topic of conversation was....Covid. They were working-class type folks.
What you can say? They don't really believe the bulk of what the Health Minister says...they doubt the jab business makes that much difference....life is awful regulated over this stuff....the virus drives everyday life more than anything else, and their lives have been affected by the virus in terms of economics (either retired early because of business collapse, or laid off temporarily because business lessened in a dramatic way).
I'll say this about German society....virtually everyone now has an opinion, and they are openly critical about a dozen-odd factors of Covid.
It is a divided society.....pro-vaccination and non-vax folks. You might be around folks who got forced into the corner to be vaxed-up, but their enthusiasm is pretty marginal. Most folks remember 2019 like it was yesterday, and no one sees those days returning anything soon.
It's not like Germans are consumed over Covid....but each evening, the 8 PM news on ARD (Channel One, Public TV) leads off in 80-percent of cases with Covid. Even at 8:15 PM, there might be a 15-to-20 minute 'special' to expand on the day's Covid news. So you get a strong dose and some would suggest a unhealthy dose of 'fear porn' or 'hyped-up worry'.
If you asked me....do people drink more because of this? No, I wouldn't go at this direction. It just comes up as you board a bus or train....or at the office....or while dealing with the bakery shop lady. You have to live with an imaginary 700-lb bear in the middle of your house.
No comments:
Post a Comment