A year ago, the first Coronavirus infection was reported in Germany. Back then, we almost suffered heart attacks when we read those news. Today, on the other hand, many of us seem to be sort of numb.
Berlin, January 26th, 2021 (The Berlin Spectator) — What does the damned Corona pandemic do to us? Are we already dazed and jaded? Does the virus turn our brain into Camembert? Do we still see the actual reality? Where in the hell is my mask? These are the big questions people are asking themselves while staring out the window.
Nutella Sandwich
When Bavaria reported a man had been infected with Corona, we were glued to the TV screen just as if Neil Armstrong had just stepped on the surface of the damned Moon. Is this really happening or are they trying to scare the sh*t out of us? Well, both was the case.
The first Corona news were shocking. When Angela Merkel had to go into quarantine early on in the crisis, I almost dropped my Nutella sandwich on the carpet. When the German Air Force evacuated a hundred citizens from Wuhan, some thought this was part of some Tom Clancy novel they had not read.
Wrong Movie
When Health Minister Jens Spahn, the man who had told people to keep their distance and wear masks a thousand times, caught the Coronavirus, when thousands celebrated illegal parties in parks, we thought we were in the wrong movie. How can this be?
Then the first lockdown was announced. What? W-H-A-T? Wait a minute! I have to go to the hairdresser even though I hardly have hair. I need to walk the dog I don’t have. And what about the Salsa dancing class I never signed up for? Is all of it cancelled now? That’s what it looked like. Damn.
Fog Patches
It happened with the second lockdown. An overdose of Netflix and all the peanut butter we consumed, along with those truckloads of bad news we were forced to digest, probably caused a new state of mind. Jadedness. It is like looking through fog patches.
The Health Minister has said something again? Well, let the man talk. We need to wear medical masks now? Sure. We will be confined to a 15-kilometer radius around our home? Be my guest. I don’t give a rat’s ass. There is a new, more contagious Corona mutation? So what? Wait. There is WHAT?