On French Baguettes

Its being reported that the liberté loving the French have been too lax in their response to their lock-down and Prime Minister Macron has had to reprimand them. Now the French are implementing the same system we have here in Italy, of having to carry around a self-certification document to justify each outing. While the French come to grips with having to fill out a form every time they go out for a baguette, here in Italy we’ve moved into the fining and sanctioning phase.

 According to the the Ministry of the Interior, close to 8000 people have been charged with defying the lock-down (it’s not clear to me if they have all been fined, tbc). A few days ago, I joked that I would walk around with groceries from now on just to avoid being questioned. Remember that? Well, it seems that one cunning guy on the island of Ischia did just this. He went shopping at noon and proceeded to stay out all day with his bags as alibi. He was spotted at 5 pm and again at 7pm, when he aroused suspicion and got checked by the military.  They checked his receipt from the grocery store, which clearly indicated that he had paid for his groceries at 12 o’clock. Oops, caught red handed.

Note to the rest of the world preparing for lock-down or “sheltering in place” as I hear they call it in California: If our experience here in Italy is any indication, you do not need to stockpile groceries and send the logistics of your supermarket chains into chaos. There is plenty of food available, you just have to give the stores a chance to replenish. Plus, eating a lot of garbanzo beans during while sheltering is really not a good idea. Also, today’s episode of the Daily podcast is a must listen. It’s seriously heartbreaking. Once again, I can only express my profoundest thanks to our doctors and medical staff.