Falling Back, 40. A Hundred Euro Handful.

About a week ago, a teenager was sitting on a bench in Santiago eating a handful of pistachios, pulling down his mask to put the morsels in his mouth. A policeman in the area, saw him, and fined him a hundred euros for not having his mask properly adjusted, and for not maintaining a social distance.

For some reason, the kid was interviewed for the national news by a television station. His story was then carried wide and far. A group of friends decided to crowd fund to pay his fine. They easily raised the hundred euros. And today, a company that imports pistachios announced that they were supplying him with a pack of pistachios every month for a year, to make him feel better.

The truth is that there are some policemen that are sticklers for the law in excess. A couple of years ago, a policeman in Poio fined a driver for turning his head to the side. The argument was that the driver had his attention diverted from the traffic in front of him, and could have caused an accident. I think the police was looking for extra funds that time. Yes, it's true that we need to understand that masks are the best way to beat down this virus. But there was little point in that fine, since people sitting at terraces, sipping coffee, don't bother to pull up their masks between sips. 

The pandemic has brought other strange things. A driver was stopped at a control by the Guardia Civil traffic police and asked to blow into the alcohol sensor. He did, and gave a positive of .36 (The limit is .25, I think, but since I don't drink before getting behind the wheel, I don't worry about it.). The Guardia got another machine, cleaned it, and gave it to the man to blow, again. This time, it measured .40. The man, a teetotaler, said there had to be a problem with the machines, probably the alcoholic hand gel the Guardias were using. This time, they couldn't fine the driver, because the driver was right. The alcohol got too close to the sensor, and when the driver blew into it, some of the alcohol did, too. The question is, how many drivers did the Guardia Civil fine that really hadn't drunk enough to give a positive?

It's true, that people don't like to follow the rules, especially with the masks, and the social distancing. Getting together with friends, and passing the time like we've always done is very ingrained in our lives. But there are actions that will most likely not harm anyone, and that can't be illegal in one spot but legal in another, like eating pistachios on a bench versus eating them at a café terrace. And the preponderance of hand gel should be taken into account at moments when alcohol can prejudice someone. 

That's life during a pandemic.

Life continues.