An elderly gentleman looks at me in the bar where I drink my morning espresso, after having broadcast television early for the Morning Studio. Sun over Piazza Cavour, over the palm trees where green parrots live, over streets so empty of traffic and people that it feels unreal.
“This is what the city looked like when I was a little boy. Then there was not all the chaos, all the tourists, all the cars, ”says the older man. He is impeccably elegant like so many Italians, wearing no face mask despite being one of the foremost risk group. The corona virus hits hard on the elderly who are urged not to go out at all.
But this man remembers war, mafia deeds and hardships, all the hard and bad Italy suffered during his long life and his fear of neither the infection nor the death.
All the time while we talk we keep the safety distance of one meter. The usual loud crowds that usually rule Rome are gone. I go home, strolling around schedule is no longer allowed, the government urges people to stay home.
Reasons for moving out of town are work, health reasons, shopping for food, going to the pharmacy and doing other necessary matters. Late last night and into the night, chaos occurred in several grocery stores, including in Naples, when people wildly hoarded goods and began to brawl in some supermarkets.
The government calls for calm and assures that grocery stores will remain open at all times and that there will be no shortage of goods. On the contrary, the food and agriculture sector is currently suffering huge losses due to reduced orders from empty hotels and abandoned restaurants. So there is an abundance of goods.
I hurry to buy some milk, fruit, bread and fresh pasta. The tomatoes are as beautiful as usual but the vegetable vendor is subdued, he wears gloves and his usual humming on Italian strokes has been silenced. His old aunt died the day before yesterday but now cannot be buried, it weighs on him.
All funerals are prohibited, as are weddings and all kinds of meetings and gatherings. The gym I go to sometimes is closed like the neighborhood cinema. On Sunday evening we took a pizza after work, at the restaurant around the corner. We saw Juventus-Inter playing empty stands on TV. A small sense of normalcy and everyday joy that now also disappears. Tonight, all places are already closed at 18, which means many restaurants will not open at all.
Football, like all sports, is set for April 3. A friend who is in the Dolomites for skiing calls and is stated, the facility has closed. But at the same time he understands the seriousness, most do, except possibly many young people who defy the ban on body contact and closeness, in youthful arrogance.
At home, bored homeless children lack their school, play and friends.
On television, messages are constantly sent from the government about what all citizens should think about. Program manager Amadeus, who led the San Remo festival, Italy's Mello, asks everyone to sneeze at the arm fold.
More and more celebrities, such as football legend Francesco Totti, are urging social media people to follow the new hashtag #iostoacasa, #jagstannarhemma.
The news broadcasts are only about the virus.
Yet I feel no fear, only a sense of unreality and that we must all accept what is happening. Difficult times require difficult decisions and, above all, determination.