The Adjusted Normal, 20. The Party Continues.
Last night, our daughter went out with a cousin and another couple of friends. First they went to two nightspots that were rather empty. Our daughter wore her mask, which she pulled down to drink, and kept her distance from others. Then, another cousin came by and asked the friends, why not go to C** M***'s? Eventually, they agreed, and drove up into the hills.
That is the name the locals have for a parrillada (a restaurant specializing in barbecued meats) that sits in a small hill village nearby; in 2014, there were 68 people listed as living there. Neither our daughter nor her friends quite understood why their friend was insisting on them driving up there.
When they got there, they understood why. The parrillada doubles as a night club of sorts. Our daughter felt she was in another dimension where the pandemic simply doesn't exist. The joint was jumping with young people and music. She and her friends sat outside at a terrace table, but it didn't matter much because distance was not something considered except for the length of time one had to drive home.
They found dozens of other friends and acquaintances there from our township. The reason the other night spots they sat at were empty was not because of caution, but because that parrillada had become the spot to be on Friday nights. It seems the Guardia Civil doesn't drive by all that often, either.
One of the headaches with the pandemic, is that young people simply do not feel the need to take caution. They want to party and have a good time with their friends, after spending most of the spring without seeing each other. Time and again police have broken up gatherings that have grown too large. Bars and night clubs have had to be closed and fined for ignoring the laws of the new normality. Discos and disco pubs have been allowed to open, but there is no dancing allowed, and fewer people are allowed in than can actually fit. The outbreak in Burela in the north of Lugo came about in two bars, where people were not keeping their distance. Over 200,000 people have been newly quarantined in a county in the province of Lleida, in Catalunya, because of a large outbreak there. For the love of God, the devil virus is still out there!
Our daughter is now worried. But the outbreak in nearby Ribeira is dying down; the number of infected hasn't passed nine, and it's almost been two weeks, so those in quarantine are most likely not infected, and no one seems to have escaped the notice of the local health clinics. Most likely, no one last night was a carrier, so I'm not too worried, either. Still. If anyone who frequents the place becomes infected somewhere else, they will pass the virus on to virtually all the households in our village, and most of the township. I wonder, do most parents know where their children go at night? Do some even care?
This situation also sheds light on a problem that has existed for some years. Last year closing hours changed and expanded for some establishments, but few actually follow the law. Restaurants have to close by 2:00AM. Concert halls and cafés espectáculo must close by 4:00AM. When our daughter and her friends left, it was 4:30AM, and the music was going strong.
Few are the establishments that close at the hour determined by law. There's a café in a neighboring parish that some nights closes at three or four in the morning. The limit is 2:30AM. Then, there are places that are registered as a café espectáculo, and are really restaurants, such as the one in question, and close even later than is allowed for a café espectáculo. The neighbors don't bother to complain, because little or nothing is ever done about it. So they shut it down for a weekend and give the owner a fine. The next weekend the place is open again, makes enough to pay the fine, and has plenty left over as profit. The night world helps sustain tourism, so it is usually touched only exceptionally. No one is going to cut off their nose to spite their face.
I wish more young people had just a little bit more of common sense.
Life continues.
That is the name the locals have for a parrillada (a restaurant specializing in barbecued meats) that sits in a small hill village nearby; in 2014, there were 68 people listed as living there. Neither our daughter nor her friends quite understood why their friend was insisting on them driving up there.
When they got there, they understood why. The parrillada doubles as a night club of sorts. Our daughter felt she was in another dimension where the pandemic simply doesn't exist. The joint was jumping with young people and music. She and her friends sat outside at a terrace table, but it didn't matter much because distance was not something considered except for the length of time one had to drive home.
They found dozens of other friends and acquaintances there from our township. The reason the other night spots they sat at were empty was not because of caution, but because that parrillada had become the spot to be on Friday nights. It seems the Guardia Civil doesn't drive by all that often, either.
One of the headaches with the pandemic, is that young people simply do not feel the need to take caution. They want to party and have a good time with their friends, after spending most of the spring without seeing each other. Time and again police have broken up gatherings that have grown too large. Bars and night clubs have had to be closed and fined for ignoring the laws of the new normality. Discos and disco pubs have been allowed to open, but there is no dancing allowed, and fewer people are allowed in than can actually fit. The outbreak in Burela in the north of Lugo came about in two bars, where people were not keeping their distance. Over 200,000 people have been newly quarantined in a county in the province of Lleida, in Catalunya, because of a large outbreak there. For the love of God, the devil virus is still out there!
Our daughter is now worried. But the outbreak in nearby Ribeira is dying down; the number of infected hasn't passed nine, and it's almost been two weeks, so those in quarantine are most likely not infected, and no one seems to have escaped the notice of the local health clinics. Most likely, no one last night was a carrier, so I'm not too worried, either. Still. If anyone who frequents the place becomes infected somewhere else, they will pass the virus on to virtually all the households in our village, and most of the township. I wonder, do most parents know where their children go at night? Do some even care?
This situation also sheds light on a problem that has existed for some years. Last year closing hours changed and expanded for some establishments, but few actually follow the law. Restaurants have to close by 2:00AM. Concert halls and cafés espectáculo must close by 4:00AM. When our daughter and her friends left, it was 4:30AM, and the music was going strong.
Few are the establishments that close at the hour determined by law. There's a café in a neighboring parish that some nights closes at three or four in the morning. The limit is 2:30AM. Then, there are places that are registered as a café espectáculo, and are really restaurants, such as the one in question, and close even later than is allowed for a café espectáculo. The neighbors don't bother to complain, because little or nothing is ever done about it. So they shut it down for a weekend and give the owner a fine. The next weekend the place is open again, makes enough to pay the fine, and has plenty left over as profit. The night world helps sustain tourism, so it is usually touched only exceptionally. No one is going to cut off their nose to spite their face.
I wish more young people had just a little bit more of common sense.
Life continues.
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