Italians are not having a siesta, but they are singing

What makes my blood boil is cultural stereotyping. And I am not talking about the loving generalisations most of us engage in sometimes, but harmful blanket statements in a time of crisis. I don’t know who Dr Christian Jessen is, but he is apparently well-known enough to be given a headline by the British paper the Evening Standard, where he declared that Coronavirus is a complete exaggeration and Italians are just using this to stay home and have a “siesta”. Firstly: The Evening Standard should be ashamed of given this man column inches.  Freedom of the press is not the same as giving airtime to an ignoramus. Second, Dr Jessen should know “siesta” is not even an Italian word, but a Spanish one. And thirdly, last I checked, the only people taking a “siesta” (a permanent one, that is) are our dead, 1266 at last count, which is hardly a hoax. The rest of us are trying our best to work from home, supervise our children’s homeschooling, cook, clean, keep the groceries stocked, stay in touch with our families and most importantly: not go insane. And some Italians are singing, or playing instruments, or dancing on their balconies, a testament to the fact that there can be (there must be) joy in dark moments, there can be community despite social isolation. These are the acts of “resistance” we can engage in that will help us through this time. See here for just one of many examples as reported in La Repubblica. On a sadder note: in Milan they have now also closed public parks. Plans to get a puppy might have to be put on hold.

 Another point I need to make about the article in the Evening Standard is that it was tagged “symptoms”, so a person searching for information on Covid19 will find this brilliant piece of objectivity. Now is not the time to undermine the threat that this virus poses. Boris Johnson might have bought into the idea of “herd immunity” (good luck with that!) but he admits it will come at the expense of the nation’s loved ones dying before “their time”. Well, in Italy love our old people. They are old and wise and full of beautiful stories.

Trending still: The toilet paper panic. If you want to know whether TP is really in danger of running out, read this New York Times article for all (or most of) your loo roll questions answered.