Gonzalo Sánchez
05/10/2020 - 16:57
- Clarín.com
- Society
"I asked if it existed, if the coronavirus passed or if it is going to come, but the truth is that I don't see it here. My life has not changed a bit: I go by bike or car to work. I don't wear masks, nobody uses them, maybe one person every 50. I stay more at home, because that is what the State asked us, but I do not perceive that something terrible is happening. And instead, when I talk to friends from Spain or my family in Argentina, it costs me believe everything they tell me. It's a strange situation for me. "
Mariano Mazzei is a musician from Burzaco, Buenos Aires province, who one day, after a love, took his things and settled in the south of Sweden. That love is called Kim. They met in Barcelona and have lived together for more than 8 years. In recent months, when the coronavirus pandemic was already a reality across the planet, they moved to a smaller town, located 20 kilometers from Malmo. Not because of the pandemic, but because of the desire to seek a better quality of life. Even more.
They received visits from parents and friends. And their routines did not change at all. They are not, says Mariano, saturated with information. Hardly the radio, every so often, turned on in the kitchen. Nor did his economic situation change at all. Simply because almost nothing changed.
Mariano and a Campari, normal life in Sweden.
While Mariano and Kim went on with their lives, the Swedish State bet on a daring strategy, as flattered as rejected by their own and others: no closure of schools, few prohibitions, appeal to the common sense and solidarity of the population, social distance (something almost from Swedish DNA), not overwhelming the economy, not closing industries and health system on alert and fully operational. This is the famous Swedish case that adds to date almost 26 thousand reported cases and 3,200 deaths from coronavirus. But that, according to their authorities, has allowed them to cross and control the pandemic without economic costs. The same case that President Alberto Fernández on Friday used as an example of what not to do.
Mariano has continued with his work throughout these 70 days, in a graphic printing company, where he works from morning to afternoon. Work with 15 people, perfectly the same as always. "No one is wearing a mask and nothing has changed. The subject is present but in an indirect way. Every morning when we arrive, we have a team meeting. One day, back in January, one of my colleagues remembered showing on his tablet a black world map that marked cases on the Internet and we made jokes about when it would arrive but well, here we are, "he recalls.
Mariano plays bass in a punk rock, rockabilly band and good music from the 60s and 70s. Days ago he participated in a rehearsal, as if it were December, as in times of "old normality". It is true that the concerts were suspended. "More than 50 people cannot get together, so we are not playing, but I have gone out to buy records and those things that I like. Here you go down the street, you see a terrace and it is full of people drinking beer and talking. Here nothing changed and there is no criticism nor is it a strong issue. "
Mariano, his girlfriend, Kim, and their cat: normal life in Sweden.
What did the State ask of you? Very Swedish style, says Mariano, with an Argentine look. "He told us: you have to maintain a certain isolation, avoid seeing people, but if you are going to do it, do it in open places. He did not forbid us anything"
One day Mariano had symptoms. He lost his taste and smell. He ate Mexican tacos, which he likes so much, and could not perceive its flavor. "So I told the work that I was with those symptoms and they told me to stay home. In those days, I didn't kiss my girlfriend, zero contact, but calm. I stayed a week and a half, until it happened. But no No doctor came to see me or anything. And I felt good. "
As indicated by the labor law, a week later Mariano called to say that he was fine. They told him that then, he had the right to two more days to confirm that the symptoms had not returned. So it was. After those two days, Mariano put on his headphones, played music and went back to work.
"In the printing press," he says, "what I do change is we go to make specific graphics to work for regions that commission us masks, posters that indicate social distance and such things. There we do see the issue of the coronavirus. as the news say. Coronacrisis? It seems to me a lack of respect because here nothing happens, on the other hand, in the United Kingdom I saw that it is terrible. "
Mariano insists that the coronavirus is not an issue that is present in the daily life of Swedes, who have been experiencing an imperceptible pandemic for 70 days. Everything the same, the open restaurants, the crowded parks, awaiting the bright summer weather, Ikea full. What is Ikea? A symbol of Sweden, the large chain of home goods stores that Swedes are often proud of. Going to Ikea is like going to mass on weekends. Parishioners go and buy everything for the home. "We went the other day," says Mariano, "the people before entering seemed to be at a distance, but once you passed the sliding doors with your little boy, bye, everyone, close, as if nothing, consuming, choosing products, eating the typical pancho. Everything as always ".
Mariano makes an effort to look for elements, some critical question, something that indicates that the Swedish strategy has points against . "I can't find them, I think maybe this is going to happen, as something else, well, such a thing happened, this number of people died. But in economic terms it was successful. I don't know in toilets. But our life did not change."
It became, in any case, more rational, more reasonable. When Clarín contacted him for this note, on Saturday night in Argentina, Mariano apologized. He said that at noon on Sunday he was not going to be able to talk because he expected visits at his home in southern Sweden. I was planning to cook for a friendly couple. But on Saturday night the plans changed: one of his guests had a cold. They decided to suspend. This is what common sense indicates.
GS