Reopening report card

Monday morning, things were different.  Yes, we (still) have no tourists, nor will we, probably, for an unknown stretch of time.  But it seemed like there were more locals around, somehow.  Life has begun to find its old grooves, though not always in a good way; “old grooves” means “do whatever I want.”  I was afraid of this.  More on this below.

There are still regulations, but they have evolved.  The Gazzettino published two pages of lists, according to category, of what we’re allowed to do during this phase.  (Phase 3 will begin June 3).

Masks are still required outdoors wherever it’s impossible to maintain social distancing, but gloves are no longer required inside a shop unless you intend to be touching the merchandise.  (Shops will have bottles of hand-sanitizer and sometimes gloves available.)  Clearly you can resist touching certain things, but only up to a point — I doubt that the employees will always be available to do your fetching and carrying.  And of course, if you’re buying clothing you’ll have to touch the merchandise.  Obvious.  Just plan on gloves.

Gloves are no longer required on the vaporetto.  Even more interesting is that the seating has been reassigned to accommodate more passengers.

Did I say “more passengers”?  Transport is a mess now.  The number of boats hasn’t increased, and the 4.1 and 4.2 lines have yet to reappear.  A friend of mine waited 50 minutes at Piazzale Roma to be able to board a vaporetto bound for the Lido.  I think what’s so annoying about that is that the ACTV seems to have been hoping people just wouldn’t notice that they had cut service by 50 per cent.  When nobody could travel, the service could have been cut even more than that, but now people actually want to get somewhere.  Amazing, I know.  Who would have thought.

The main problem this week — and it’s a big one — is the increasing number of people not wearing masks, or with their masks pulled down below their chin.  I saw a man this morning talking with a friend, and the man had pulled his mask down to make talking easier.  I’m sure he put it back when it wasn’t needed anymore.  And social distancing?  Suddenly people here are having more difficulty than I am in estimating what “one meter” means (and they’ve grown up with the metric system)…

NOTICE:  Do not overstep (this barrier), the zone is secure for persons at the tables.  To reach the restrooms, use the side door in the calle and respect the wait times.  The bar is disinfected (“hygienized”) at mid-day and at evening by means of a bleach-based solution as advised by the minister of health.  Entrance is forbidden during the disinfection!  

For your further care: Every table is supplied with spray and/or disinfectant wipes.  Clients are free to disinfect tables and seats.  Attention: The products are based on bleach solution (1 per cent).  At night an anti-bacteria lamp with ozone will be used, to guarantee as germ-free a local as possible. 

Please be aware of these and respect the rules, the customers, the owners, and the collective health.

NOTICE:  At the table please keep your gloves on till you are sure to be in a disinfected area.  You are requested to register (everybody) on our Facebook page to keep track of your presence to be notified in case of contagion.

You are requested to have your self-certification in case of any controls by the competent officers.  Specific disinfecting products will be available to you.  Remove your mask only to drink or eat.  Put on gloves and mask before asking for the bill.  Wait to be sure you have useful interpersonal space before moving around.

Avoid touching surfaces that you don’t need to use.

Please be aware of these and respect the rules, the customers, the owners, and the collective health.

Lest you think they have an extreme concern for their customers, which of course I hope they do, bear in mind that they also have an extreme concern for themselves. Literally overnight, like some diabolical algae bloom, masses of people gathering to party in public places has become a major problem.  It’s happening all over Italy. Fines for these happy-hour shenanigans range from 300 to 4,000 euros, and if that’s no deterrent to the blithe spirits, the bar and restaurant owners are enjoined to break up any groups forming in front of their establishment, otherwise they (the owners) risk suspension of their licenses and will be closed.

All this revelry is the big story these days, because groups MUST NOT BE PERMITTED TO FORM.  Front-page headline in the Gazzettino two days ago: “Spritz and folly: ‘I’ll close everything again'” (Luca Zaia, governor of the Veneto).  “The Halt! of the governor: Exaggerated nightlife and too many without masks: They should remember the deaths.”  “In Padova tens of young people drunk, carabinieri attacked” (wait, what?).  “The prefect: Stupidity everywhere, I’m astonished by such childishness.”

The Gazzettino’s headlines yesterday: “Wild nights: Maxi-fines and closures.  Bars packed and spritz without masks.  (Prime Minister) Conte: This isn’t the time to be partying.  Steep sanctions for whoever slips up and stopping the bars.”  Sorry for the translation — like so many things, it sounds better in Italian.

“Look,” Zaia states on the front page — “I’ll close everything.  We’ll go back to sealing ourselves in our houses with silicone.  The use of the mask can’t be seen as a whim, it’s a lifesaver.”

So these modest little photos of via Garibaldi are nothing compared to the locust-swarms of adolescents of every age that overnight have turned the streets and piazzas of Italian towns into pullulating masses of merriment.  What strikes me as modestly amusing is that in Venice a lot of this behavior used to be perpetrated by the much-maligned tourists.  I’m not saying that whenever the tourists return, and presumably resume their rampant rude revolting craziness, that I’m going to be glad.  I’ll be glad to see people enjoying the city, as I always have been when people come to Venice who do not act either like a herd of overstimulated wild boars or moribund water buffalo collapsing before they reach the river.

Speaking of tourists, this just in: The Biennale has been canceled for this year.  It had been scheduled as per normal from late May to late November; comes the pandemic and it was halved to run from late August to late November.  Now it will run from late never to late never.  Whatever disappointment you may feel about losing the chance to see the exhibitions is nothing compared to what the myriad tourist-tenders are feeling.  The 2019 edition logged almost 600,000 visitors, who not only paid the entrance fee but ate, slept, and did other money-intensive things here to the tune of 48,000,000 euros.  Whatever percentage of that amount the city treasury realized, it will be sorely missed this year.  Tourism to Venice isn’t just shirtless day-trippers laying siege to the Piazza San Marco.

Another sign of the new times is price hikes.  Some hairdressers and bar owners are trying to make up lost ground by increasing their prices.  There have been reports of an espresso costing as much as 1.70 euros (as opposed to the normal 1 or 1.10).  Some salons have added 2 euros, marked “COVID” on the bill, to cover the cost of the single-use supplies they have had to lay in, and some have acquired expensive disinfecting equipment that cleans the air by ozone.  Some shops have a box for contributions to help defray the new costs.

There’s at least one normal thing I’d rather not see.  It has nothing to do with coronavirus, but is a sort of mine-canary for what I consider the dark side of life-as-usual here: Horrific motorboat accidents.  For nearly three months private motorboats were grounded, and at the moment motorboat traffic is still fairly modest (taxis are yet to be seen, for one thing), so accidents haven’t made news because there weren’t any.  But on May 18 there was a headline about a collision with a piling, and it brought a dank whiff of “Oh, so we’re back to doing that again,” not unlike the random shootings in the US once lockdown was lifted.