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All of Italy is in lockdown — and Italians are (mostly) taking it in stride
“So, anyway, I’ve been staying at home with my family for a couple of days now, and — what can I say? They seem like decent people.”
That’s the content of an audio file that’s been circulating on WhatsApp groups lately. It’s supposed to be funny, and it is. It also rings true to a lot of people. Because, really, how much time do we normally spend with our family, all under the same roof at the same time? It took a nationwide quarantine to get us all around the kitchen table again.
I know we Italians — especially the younger generations — have a reputation of being mammoni: obsessed with family, dependent on our parents, and generally not so eager to leave the nest. But in an age of fluctuating jobs and erratic university lessons, aging parents and grandparents to take care of, friends to see and places to go, it’s hard to find the time to sit around the same table with your family members and, you know, talk.
The coronavirus lockdown has forced people to stay at home. Trips are canceled; classes are suspended; cinemas, restaurants, shops, and clubs are closed; many workplaces are arranging for their employees to work from home (and, let me tell you, it’s amazing how teleworking and smart working, considered completely infeasible and way too difficult to organize…
