Lockdown in Blajel. afl.38

“The new normal.” I hate that cry. As if 'normal' is a constant state and everything, including normal, does not change constantly. Although there are also positive aspects to the situation of recent months, I believe there are few people who would like to spend the rest of their lives like this. Do we really have to find it normal to stop touching each other, not being able to move freely, constantly be on our guard?

Is the new normal for us to lock older people in their homes? Maybe not literally, but so frightened and kept, that they barely dare to put their noses outside the door. Visiting received something from the regime in a prison. Only by appointment, a limited number of people, keeping distance and not touching each other. Getting out, visiting your children, attending family celebrations, is no longer possible. Precisely those things that form the rays of sunshine in the lives of many older people and make life attractive are no longer allowed.

This morning my Romanian accountant called, also an elderly lady with the necessary ailments. She's been in her apartment since the first days of the lockdown and hasn't been outside despite the loosening of the rules. Actually she had to go to the hospital a while ago but she is too scared with the result that she can hardly walk anymore. If I could get her some fresh vegetables at the market and some groceries at the Lidl. A neighbor does groceries for her, but she also dares not to go on like the kiosk on the corner of the street. And yes, if I want to hang it on the door because even 1.5 meters away and with a mouth cap she still doesn't dare talk to me. Her children and grandchildren have been seen and spoken only through the laptop for months. The son who lived with her has sought shelter elsewhere. She thought he was too dangerous because he just had to go to work every day. Is that her new normal? I'm afraid that's going to significantly shorten her life and make it far from pleasant.

My own “normal” is still far from normal. Although I have some of the rules and decide for myself what I think is sensible and responsible, there are many things that I will never find normal. Initially there was the feeling that if we stick to the rules as well as possible, we are back through it as soon as possible to follow those rules. That attitude also had many Romanians. Just put the shoulders below and then it's back on. Now most people are tired of it and take the sometimes extremely small chance of infection for granted. There is a nice chat again when one meets on the street. People are sitting in front of the gate again in the evening sun. They visit each other and celebrate birthdays. At least half of the villagers do not wear a mouth cap when they go to get a loaf of bread and in the store there are not one but two people who are helped at the same time.

Maybe the new normal is for us to realize that we're all gonna die sometime. One a little faster than the other. That medical science also has its limits and many elderly people with a whole range of ailments already live in injury time or prolongation. That more and more elderly people feel that, if things have to go on like this, this is the new normal, it doesn't have to, as one of my neighbours entrusted me.