Saturday, Easter eve, early afternoon. The cell phone ‘screams.’ (It was a friend who said the ringtone of my cell was closer to a scream than a sober ringtone.)
“Hello!” It wasn’t the usual ‘Hello;’ from my friend at the other end. These days so much negativity invades our senses so persistently most of us are jumpy over the most trivial things.
“Hello! What’s wrong with you?”
Because, there must have been something very wrong for my friend to sound so out of character. A difficult nut to crack and not given to panic so easily I almost wished there wouldn’t be any bombshell of an information or news coming from him. What’s more he has called an hour or so earlier and we had some laugh.
“Are you home?” he nearly shouts.
“Of course, I am…”
“Have you gone to the sheep market?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Don’t!” he wasn’t offering any advice. It was a military-style order!
Hey! What was this all about? I was sure of one thing; he wasn’t going to surprise me with a knock on my door, a giant of a sheep in tow and the magic words… “This is your Easter gift from my family;” no way; not with the financial problems he was in.”
“I don’t intend to go. But what is this all about!”
“The whole city is out…”
If I didn’t listen to the rest of what he said next it was because I knew what would follow. I was already browsing the social media, and seeing the pictures of crowds at various marketplaces I have to admit I was more scared than shocked! What do all those people think they are doing! We are not talking not about some naughty kids out for the wrong kind of fun, but about full-blown adults with spouses, kids and what have you back home! What, oh what would it take to make people realize the gravity of the situation we are in! If they think they are being adventurous then there is bad news coming their way; they are being stupid, stupid, stupid! We are talking about the lives and well-being of the society, which they have no right to jeopardize!
I am worried. I really am. It as if some devastating hurricane is coming our way and we have failed to pick up the warning bells. Or maybe we think that we’re ‘special’ and no virus was ever to take away that from us. Nonsense, with a big N!! Those who thought of themselves as being ‘the untouchables,’ the cream of humanity, are finding out the hard way this was a virus the never discriminates. I have heard people say, “You’ll see; it’ll just blow away.” Now is a far-fetched wish, not an indication of optimism.
True, Easter is a very important holiday in the calendar of Ethiopian Christians. After close to two months of fasting and prayers it is the culmination that comes with a big bang; and the big bang is the culinary adventure. It is the ‘dark winter’ for chicken, sheep or cattle which have enjoyed two months of near complete freedom. So it is only natural people go shopping, mostly at traditional marketplaces.
And believe it or not the bargaining is part of the holiday spirit!
But this time around things were supposed to be different. The expectations were that people will get the message and be more cautious. I mean, few if any can claim we’re not aware of all the things going on at home and abroad. We were supposed to practice social distancing to the best of our abilities. We were supposed to make amends to our shopping style as old ways of large and dense crowds could be dangerous. But alas; the market scenes in the city, no to blow things out of proportion, were terrifying. If you think ‘terrifying’ should have been edited out, you haven’t seen the pictures and video clips of the markets. What in the world were we thinking! Do they the professionals all the warnings were rehearsing some stage play? Warnings coming from the WHO people are becoming stronger by the day. A third of one billion-plus people in danger of being infected! That is tantamount to a modern apocalypse on the horizon!
And to put salt in people’s wounds most shoppers didn’t care about face masks, gloves or other protective measures. It looked like if it was business as usual and that nothing out of the ordinary was happening. All these at a time when life as we know it has all but stopped for much of humanity.
But, of course, there is also some silver lining to the story; one thing is Easter is not a one-day holiday. In fact, it continues for a couple of weeks as people go to the houses of relatives and friends carrying home baked bread, food and drinks. All indications are that, this time around many have chosen to stay at home. I only wish people were as careful in every, and all, places and situations.
How can people act so irresponsibly! What does it take to nudge us our self-inflicted indifference! What does it take to hit the message home that I nothing is was as it was a few months back and we are in completely different times.
In that old-time film ‘Taxi Driver’ there is that famous confrontational line from the character played by Robert de Niro; “Are you talking’ to me!” Too many of us seem to say just that to the virus… “Are you talkin’ to me!” Truth be told, there are many of us who seem to have failed to grasp the real picture. We seem to have changed nothing of our usual behaviors. We act as if everything was business as usual. It is not; not here not anywhere in the world.
Maybe it’s time to rethink how we go about our holiday shopping, and other behaviors that would only worsen people’s exposure to danger. Things might not get back to normal any time soon. So, as they say, it’s time to buckle up!
The fact is there is no magic bullet here. The only way to ride out this storm and come out safe and sound on the other side is through listening to what the professionals tell us and adhere to them to the last letter. The “Are you talkin’ to me!” mentality is like being in the eye of the storm.
The Ethiopian Herald April 24/2020
Ephrem Endale
Contributer
