Riding the Wave, 45. The Joke's on Us.
Right on time for the Spanish April Fool's day, Pfizer announced that they won't be able to move the next shipment of the vaccine to Spain today at the prescribed hour because of logistical problems; it'll arrive tomorrow. It sounds like a typical joke for today, but this is not the best time for an inocentada . Today is the day of the Holy Innocents, the Santos Inocentes . It is Spain's, and Latin America's, April Fool's. No ones knows the exact reason for how a supposed massacre that is more of a legend than history, gave rise to a day of practical jokes. I have read that it is the last remnant of the Roman Saturnalia, which concerned changing around roles, and having the world topsy-turvy at the winter solstice. Also, in Spanish, the word "innocent" refers to someone who is simple-minded, and will believe any lie or story as solid truth. So, today, the tradition is to cut out a little man out of paper, a monigote , or llufe , and stick it on some...