(by John Blackeye) Milan 28 March 1944. British bombing. 18 dead and 45 wounded. Milan 17 March 2020. Coronavirus. More than 200 deaths in a single day.
I do not know that during the war, at the time of the bombing of Milan, a huge crowd joyfully appeared on the balconies of other Italian cities, to sing their hearts out and try to exorcise evil. Those 18 killed in the bombings deserved respect and I believe they deserve respect too 345 dead today that have registered throughout Italy for Coronavirus.
It is clear that the shields of all those improvised singers who have decided to starry as if nothing had gone out of the balconies will rise but the time we are living perhaps is even more serious than what our grandparents lived during the last war. Yes, because the Civil Protection bulletin issued today gives no room for other interpretations: it is a war bulletin.
In this hypothetical battlefield, the heroes this time are not soldiers or airplane pilots but they are the doctors, nurses, supermarket cashiers and finally, the entire Italian people who, partly out of fear and partly out of choice, have locked themselves in the house trying to avoid the proliferation of contagion and it is trying to respect - perhaps for the first time - the laws of the state.
Faced with the impossibility of doing something, in the face of human limits, I believe that one of the solutions is precisely to demonstrate and teach young people a deep sense of respect. Respect for those victims who do not have a face but who appear before us, every day, in the form of numbers. Adults, the elderly, young and old - part of us - found themselves fighting overnight that they would not have liked to fight and, unfortunately, the lost year. We cannot sing Rino Gaetano's verses out of the balconies but nothing changes. And you cannot exorcise the dramatic moment, not even by singing the national anthem that deserves definitely more solemn locations and cannot become the soundtrack of an episode film that still cannot see the happy ending.
We can all write the happy ending, with our responsible behavior. Great sacrifices are required, changes of habits (and this would perhaps not be bad since we have become a poison society) and these sacrifices must be endured. If they ask us to stay indoors, we cannot find excuses or alternatives. The virus kills it by stopping its infection.
Of course, they'll tell me that people need their outburst and that singing is good but there are moments to sing and moments to be silent, moments to joke and moments to reflect. We didn't win a soccer world cup, there is no reason to scream and if we miss that sense of unity and attachment to the nation that we can show off on the balconies, then we would do better to cultivate this feeling in moments of normalcy when, instead, leaving home in the morning , we look sulkily on the other side to avoid a "good morning" to our neighbor. Let's start from there and we will see great transformations around us, changes that we always demand from others.
Here, if we feel we are Italian and we feel united, we try to demonstrate it in the moments of serenity that will come back, when we can dedicate part of our daily lives to the national interest, when instead of criticizing ourselves and shooting everything, we will have the opportunity to no longer be ballast of a great nation but to be living molecules of a state, the Italian one, which deserves to occupy much higher positions in the international scenario.
But until we come out of the balconies humming nursery rhymes written by some successful singer-songwriters, the sense of responsibility that should belong to us in everyday life will struggle to sprout.
We treasure these sad moments to trigger, as soon as possible, an extra gear in our lives and, consequently, in that of our Beloved Italy.
At the moment, however, in front of 350 deaths a day that have no place even in morgues, put your hand on your conscience and if you really want to do something concrete, instead of singing with mobile phones in your hand outside the balconies, raise a prayer to God for Italy and for the souls of those poor brothers who are leaving us in these days. Only in this way will things change.