The regulars at the bar and those in the WhatsApp group were saying the same thing: that stopping the world today because of the wind was an exaggeration. That it was being done because of the DANA storm and Mazón, and that it would become clear as the hours passed that it hadn't been necessary. We don't know what would have happened if our phone alarms hadn't gone off. Maybe nothing, maybe everything. Maybe we really do live in an overprotected society. But today's wind isn't typical, just as the extreme weather events that are coming and for which we aren't prepared aren't typical.
If the DANA storm has made politicians realize that, if they're going to be unpopular, it's better to be unpopular by excess than by deficiency, then I approve. Yes: it's better to scold a weatherman from the sofa because he was wrong and the weather wasn't bad and ruined our getaway, than to scold him from the hospital because he was wrong, the weather was bad, and a tree fell on us. Being prudent is mature; Being reckless is immature.
If the DANA storm has served to make politicians stop going to El Ventorro to eat and linger over food during emergency days, I approve. Nourishing ourselves is something we should all do every day. Savoring, perhaps, should be reserved for special occasions. And I approve of politicians ceasing to use their allowance money for... to shockTo put on a show and seduce journalists in private rooms. We've left the eighties behind, when prawns and lobsters, as well as champagne and Rioja, were a declaration of intent and a display of power, a way of letting you know you were being prepared for bed, in any possible sense. Why does a politician get paid per diem for attending a museum opening, while the journalists who travel to cover the opening don't?
There have been serious injuries, but no deaths. I'm glad about yesterday's ES-Alert. Above all, because nothing in the world pleases me more than staying home in the morning, suspended, feeling the wind howl through the chimney.
