I heard Ernst Kuipers explain it to Beau while introducing the new ministers. I had to get in there for a while; was too distracted by the candy-pink robes of Karien van Gennip (Social Affairs and Employment). Don’t get me wrong, I love a statement outfit, but this just wasn’t it. Too much shocking pink, the wrong length and with too little exposure, making it more of a robe than a cool dress. And I thought that was pathetic. One day she looks at the pictures from the past and then she thinks: ‘What was I thinking…’
Skirt for the Empress
Don’t tell me about missing clothes, I am a wholesaler. I am either underdressed or overdressed, but rarely if ever dressed just right. And the difference between tenue de ville, cocktail, gala and casual chic on a dress code does not want to sink in. I once flew to Washington to interview Farah Diba, the former Empress of Persia. Out on Monday, back on Tuesday. As a gift I had put underpants in my bag. What more does a man need for one night in a foreign country? It wasn’t until the hotel that I realized that weathered jeans and a pair of sneakers weren’t quite the perfect outfit for a visit to someone of imperial blood. I ran out of the hotel at lightning speed to the next best fashion store where I bought an overpriced skirt of gray tulle with velvet straps and a pair of mid-high boots. God bless the credit card. I was there the next day patent. And the skirt paid off in the end. About 10 years later, my daughter is still fine with it.
Best boy in class
Anyway, back to the ministers and the lockdown and corona and all that thunder. Because omicron is much more contagious than delta, but it makes you less sick. With the exception of a whiff here and there, the number of hospital admissions is decreasing. The rest of the world is therefore open for the most part, just not us. In the first months of the pandemic we systematically followed the troops in the Netherlands, but now we have resumed our old role as the best-behaved boy in the class. Because suppose the infections increase even further, then more people will become ill. They may then no longer come to the hospital, but they must be absent from work. And then the schools close because the teachers are at home for a few days. And the hairdressers can no longer receive customers due to lack of staff, a cozy new dress for Karien is not in it, because her favorite boutique is closed for a while, the restaurants have to refuse people, because waiters and cooks are out and the gyms have to cancel classes because the instructors are in quarantine. uh…. Were they open then? Like I said, shoot me. Case in point: all pits are dampened before a single calf is born.
face masks
“Maybe trains will drop out too,” said one. “And truck drivers who are therefore no longer able to supply the shops…” The Outbreak Management Team meanwhile recommends that medical masks become mandatory in all kinds of places, even in the open air. As if it was yesterday, I remember the press conferences where we were reminded that face masks were of no use. After which they suddenly turned out to have a function, but mainly to make other people aware of the danger. And you had to take them off using the rubber bands and throw them away after one use. haha! I have yet to meet the first person to adhere to those guidelines. And just to put my hand to myself: I also stuffed all my pockets with those caps, which are also very useful for fixing your lipstick and dabbing watery eyes.
Hoarding!!!
The director of a drugstore chain says in the news that it is all a nice idea, but that they do not have those caps at all. I google them. They are still in stock at bol.com: for 20 black caps you pay 20 euros. The cheaper variants are no longer available. So you have to throw it away after every use? Walking the dog? cap. Groceries? cap. Walking the dog again (most four-legged friends pee several times a day)? Another cap. With three children. I’m running out of it. If I can get them then. What about that: maybe because you never know, dropping drivers will become an extra challenge.
Hoarding!!! Do you already have enough toilet paper and peanut butter at home? Tough times await us. Provided, if and if and suppose that… Because you never know and better safe than sorry.
Shoot me. So.