Saturday was an absolute embarassment and disgrace! Two neighbors and I drove downtown to participate in a demo for freedom and against vaccine mandates... I had actually been to two previous demos downtown and there had been thousands of people. But this Saturday, there were maybe 50 people?! The police also evidently expected more people, as there were 2-3 times as many police as participants. Where did all the people go?! What's changed in the past week?! Did I somehow completely miss something?!
It was a disaster from the start... the police kept blocking us and requiring everyone to wear masks and social distance OUTSIDE. It took us about 10 minutes to walk 100 meters away from the Brandenburger Tor. My neighbors and I were creeped out by the whole thing - more and more police kept showing up and surrounding us. It was obvious they wanted to break it up, and they kept closing in on us... so we just bailed. I had mixed feelings about leaving... but it really seemed pointless with so few people and aggressive police tactics.
Anyway. On the way back to the car, we decided to check out the demo for peace in the Ukraine and Russia... which was on the other side of the Brandenburger Tor. I kid you not: there were several hundred people gathered, and the majority was maskless. Even most of the police were walking around without masks on?! Why the double standard?! Why does the police totally crack down on our group, require official mask exception letters for people not wearing masks, and constantly stop our demo because a few pople are maskless? But literally a few feet away, no one cares?
If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it. It's an absolute disgrace.
Even two days later I'm still wondering where all the people are... in two weeks, the government is going to start implementing mandatory vaccines for certain occupational groups. Where are all the nurses that were there two weeks ago? And the firemen I saw last Monday? And the students who aren't allowed to attend classes unless they're vaccinated? Are they all out shopping because the non-vaccinated are allowed to shop again? Though they're still not allowed to sit down and eat inside at a restaurant... and their jobs are still on the line...
So that was Saturday... and then Sunday, I read that there were Russia/ Ukraine protests downtown with thousands of people. Of course I'm against war (who isn't, other than politicians?!)... but what I don't understand is how people can take it to the streets for other countries, but not for their own country and their own freedom. Or am I the crazy one?
#Berlin #Covid
