By Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
Just about once a week, I think of this unamed guy's video in Spain, from last December, posted by my friend John, from Queens -- which in turn was posted by a physicist. It really is the greatest video. I keep thinking of this young tech guy's words "I'M LIKE A *PERSON*".
And finally he says, "And even the mood is different here. In the US there's like...turmoil."
I'll say!
I do hope he'll bother to put in an absentee ballot anyways.
Give it a watch:
Imagine leaving the US to live a nonproductive European lifestyle in Spain. The accelerated mind can't comprehend. pic.twitter.com/nW6X2zvpnS
— Aaron Slodov (@aphysicist) December 16, 2023
So...
I personally wouldn't want to drink as much as he seems to, and can't now anyway. Vermouth at noon? whiskey sours? drinks at the club? Maybe he has a hollow leg. Alcohol stings my mouth now terribly due to my immune disease and conflicts with my medicines. Still, a soft drink, an espresso?
Zoom out a bit and see that what he means is: there is this slower lifestyle, where people know each other, say hello, smile, you have longer dinners with multiple generations, you earn less but can do more with it, etc. You can go to a country club without taking out a loan to join. Probably the Spanish resent these ex-pats, I have read that some Spanish towns are overwhelmed by techies taking over and jacking up the price of housing. Springville, OH anyone? It's always more complicated than it seems.
But focus on the words: 'I'M LIKE A *PERSON*". That this man had to go to Spain and make less money and walk 20 minutes to work instead of commuting 20 minutes in Dallas, surronded by franchies, to finally feel like A PERSON. Somebody smiling at grandmas.
What I realized today is that I can walk around and even see people I know around my area, neighbours, librarians, pharmacy owners I've seen for years but what prevents me from being "a person"?
The inability to sit anywhere for under $5.
The lattes are a minimum of $5-6 with tips; I don't mean Starbucks, which tastes burnt, so I never go there. I mean even a coffee or cafe au lai from Gracefully. The better cafes it will be like $7-8 with tip. I went to one today where the maple autumn latte special was not a horror like Starbucks -- it was actually authentic and good. But it was $8. The sandwich was $12. So you are dropping $20 just for a sandwich and coffee. If you go to the cheaper Greek diner, you will still be paying closer to that, perhaps $17-18. That means on a low income or pension you can't do that but once a month, if that. If you did that every day, you would need $600.
Even if you go to Dunkins, which I'm happy to do, the large hot pecan swirl is $3.49 plus tax -- that's $3.78. Leave a tip? It's $4 o0- $4.50. Barely under $5 and usually no place to sit so you go across to Stuy where the killer squirrels come at you if they smell food. By the way the coffee at the Gracefully that is at the corner of First and E. 23rd is cheaper but awful an you end up trying to drown it with soy milk or something.
So...Once a month, you get to feel like a person? I have to stay at home to feel like a person. So visit me and we can both feel like a person but there's only Yorkshire Tea here now.
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