An Observer's Tribulations

Silver Lining

Silver Lining

The Pandemic hit us or did it?  Or was it the way some people wanted to exploit it that hit us the worst?  Everyone you talk to has an opinion depending on their political leanings constantly reinforced by a sick media.

However, when the Virus came to shore, I remember telling my friends not to worry as there is always a silver lining in everything even when what we think is the worst thing that ever happened.  “Only death has no remedy and even in that I believe there is a silver lining that exists”.  For many religion’s promises is it and for others, non-believers, simply believe in saving the world even though the world doesn’t give a crap about them.

Optimism is what drives millions of people to come across the Sierras to come to this country at great costs, financially, health-wise and at the risk of being raped or other unspeakable calamities for them.  I believe most ‘Immigrants’, illegal or not have the same spirit and belief about seeing the world in a better light than many of those people born and raised here that are blind about what they’ve got.

So when today I spoke to a good friend of mine who happens to be at the other end of the world, we were remembering our times in Spain and in Algeria when Algeria was French.

As he said, we would make fun of everything, call each other names, gesticulate as we loudly addressed each other. We, like Italians and Mediterranean people in general, used to touch each other as we were throwing puns at each other.  We each had nicknames and no matter what, no one was ever offended nor felt like that was the end of the world.  We even had fist fights but the next day would have a drink together as laughter and good humor were the name of the game. 

Eventually, our long-distance conversation had to come to an end so in closing we declared to have been gifted by growing up in a country where each of us was what he or she was and not much else. 

As a fun closing, I said to him that Americans should see the silver lining that was offered to them by the Pandemic.

Ok?

Given that I always lived around the Mediterranean, I was used to living more often than not outdoors or at least in city streets, hanging out at café terraces.  When I arrived in California, I was shocked by health laws for public places, which I considered to be too extreme to the point of even being extravagantly ridiculous. 

I had met a person who upon finding out that I had a restaurant in Spain wanted to finance me to open up one in one of the 81 cities that form Los Angeles.  When we went to the location she had in mind, a beautiful Mexican-style themed strip mall in the valley, I recall imagining what I would do in that location if I ever decided to go along with her idea. I did not. When I mentioned that the place was ideal for a beautiful and spacious terrace, she jumped and told me that that was impossible.  In those days, and to a large extent today still, with the same laws in place it remains a problem.

In any case, the pandemic arrived and many businesses, mainly restaurants were closed.  Many of them went belly up and many people ended up in dire straights.  A stimulus plan was quickly put together by the government to alleviate the pain or pretend to do so, but for millions, it was too little too late.  Albeit, a bunch of unscrupulous people made up like bandits with that stimulus money.  Anyhow the silver lining had to be somewhere as for instance, in California as another momentary palliative, some cities decided to allow restaurants to put tables and chairs outside to survive.  It was a half hast type of solution but it was the silver lining California needed at least for restaurant owners but mainly for a public which forever had been deprived of the pleasure of sitting outside, on a sunny day, at a terrace.

Optimist me, what am I talking about when I know that up there they are taking us for a ride!

As a joke says: 

“Daddy, daddy, is America still far away?”

“Shut up and keep on swimming.”

So when I got an email today with a link: @NYislanders, of fans singing the National Anthem, I would say, the Silver Lining still exists even if it is in great danger.