The Adjusted Normal, 60. There's Little "Normal" This Summer

The number of infected haven't stopped rising all month. To combat them, our regional government of Galicia has, as of today, banned smoking and vaping in the open air if two meters from other people can't be kept. In other, words, no smoking on café terraces. 

Hmm. I'm glad smoking has been prohibited. One would sit outside on a terrace and get smoke in the face. If one sat inside the café, the wind coming in through the door would bring smoke inside. Now, no smoke. But that it will help keep infections down is another story. Will they prohibit sighing in delight after downing a cool beer? Because the science is the same; droplets are expelled at a greater distance both by blowing out smoke and by blowing out a sigh. Or by breathing out in relief when one sits after getting sore feet from walking. Will shallow breathing be the only breathing allowed, with or without mask, at less than two meters from other people?

In the province of Sevilla, as if what we have weren't enough, they have 19 cases of meningoencephalitis, most likely caused by West Nile virus. On top of avoiding people, those who live in the area now have to avoid mosquitoes. I assume insect repellant has sold out.

The Spanish economy is not picking up as other European economies are, because it was de-accelerating before this business started. Most of the problem lies with less industry, less diversification of that industry, and loss of consumer confidence. For example, in our small area, the biggest industry is the canning industry, followed by tourism. Consumer confidence lies with the mattress, not the stores.

School is beginning this September as expected. Some are not happy. Parents in the province of Cádiz are objecting by intending to keep their children home. Parents in other parts of Spain are not happy, either. In Catalunya, if a kid is positive, all his classmates will be in quarantine. That's a lot of people when parents and family are included. Here, in Galicia, very little has been done beyond cleaning the schools. On paper, it sounds good that desks should be kept a meter and a half apart, or that primary school children should keep within the bubble of their classroom. But, since when have teachers been able to get students to follow the rules, without them giving in to temptation when authority has left the room? 

Young people seem to feel that the world is theirs, and that the rules don't affect them. If the bars and discos close, they simply switch the party to the streets, and even the police can't do much to disperse them. One wonders about their families, and the family discipline that seems lacking. Even empathy. These kids who are carousing in the middle of a pandemic, as if nothing they do can affect them, seem to have forgotten all about their grandparents or other elderly relatives. 

It's been two months since the "new" normality has begun, and things are just getting worse. We are headed into the cooler seasons, when we are all more indoors, and less in the fresh air. If the devil virus is circulating so well now, what will it be like when we're inside and the doors and windows are closed? Fall has me trembling worse than a leaf.

Let's see what these dysfunctional times bring with the cooling days.

Life continues.