Shady decision-making on light and dark

It’s a grey day here, actually Seattle-grey, with some rain. Already in the afternoon I am turning the lights on inside. And next Sunday we will loose one hour to the dark over night. Switching from Savings Time to Normal. And I hate it.

For me, switching to Savings Time (or Summer Time as we call it in Sweden) in March is like a breath of fresh air. It’s hope. It’s promises. It’s magic.

The other way around is, of course, the opposite. I feel trapped in a sack of coal. Eternal darkness. No way out. Lungs shrinking. 

For some years there has been a quite lobbying going on for staying on the same time through the year. One argument is the switch would be bad for our health. Causing depression, heart failure and stroke. 

Bullshit, I would say. It takes 24 hours for the body to adjust to a one hour time change. So one day. That’s how long of a jet lag the switch brings. Ever heard of people sleeping in in the weekends? 

It’s not that I am sceptical to scientific research, the result might be right. But put it into some perspective, please!

And while we are in the bullshit department, I remember the biggest problem discussed at the start of Savings time in Sweden in 1980 was how the cows would manage change of milking time. It would cause chaos! It turned out they were doing just fine. 

Anyway. To my surprise the European Commission during the summer has been conducting a big vote to find out how the Europeans feel on the subject. Surprise, because I’ve never heard of it. Neither has anyone else that I know of. Apparently it was a survey on the internet. I can not remember any kind of information or call to participate in this vote. Although I am a member of the EU.

However, the result is clear and overwhelming, according to Jean-Claude Juncker chair of the EU Commission. 80% of the Europeans don't want to go back and forth, they want a steady time. Yes, that’s a high number, I agree. And more than 4,5 million people took part of the big vote.

Excuse me? 4,5 million? We are 508 million people within the EU! 4,5 million, are you kidding me? That’s like… nothing! Also, an interesting fact, most of those 4,5 million were Germans. And how many people live in Germany? 82,53 million.

So, what can we make of this? Well, it seems like a small group of Germans out of some intention (Daimler, BMW, Mercedes, Volksvagen, Siemens, who knows?) has found - or been given - a way to affect the logistics within the EU.

Am I a fan of conspiracy theories? Usually not. But this is weird. The process is hasty as well. As a result of the vote a proposition for same time all year around starting already fall 2019 was presented in Brussels last week and is now on it’s way to the EU Parliament. Then it’s up to every country in the Union to decide on eternal Savings Time or Normal Time. Good luck on the logistics on that one!

In one week Sweden will make the annual switch to Normal time, what we call Winter time. If we in a year won’t make that change for to stay on an Eternal Summer Time I couldn’t be happier, and my gratitude will go to those few Germans who made this happen, although the circumstances are most doubtable.

On the other hand. If the outcome will be Eternal Winter Time my personal fury towards the EU Commission will most certainly cause me a heart attack, I can feel it coming already, working myself up. To take a decision about a change concerning 508 million people on a shady internet survey (it’s not like a lot of us are checking in on the Commission web site as a daily routine to be sure we aren’t missing something crucial to us), that’s just wrong.

The countries within the EU have seats in the Parliament, our representatives. That’s where the decisions are made. But to make a decision based on an internet survey most of us didn’t have a clue about and only 4,5 million people attended to, that’s most questionable. To say the least. 

Sweden in chock and love

At around 8.30 PM I called Trouble 2. And started to cry as soon as I heard his voice. To my surprise. I didn’t know I was in that much need.

I was listening to my Friday Fun radio show Spanarna when suddenly the broadcast was interrupted by the news. A truck hade been driving into one of the main stores on one of the main streets in Stockholm on a Friday afternoon. That I actually knew from a telegram on the news right before Spanarna, but now I was informed it’s been driving Drottninggatan at a high speed and crashed into Åhléns main entrance, hitting people on it’s way. 

In the future, having the question “Do you remember where you were at when you got to know about the April 7 2017 terror attack in Sweden?” I will answer I was lying on my couch and Spanarna didn’t come back on air. Looking at my radio waiting for it to happen. One of those historical moments when time get’s interrupted and you sort of want to stay on the right side of that timeline. Grasping for it. Your mind kind of like a lagging motion picture.

A few hours earlier I had turned acute after a couple of weeks without sharp pain and serious shootings in my body. That didn’t help.

Neither did it help that Donald Trump decided to take action in Syria during Thursday night.

My afternoon and evening was spent in front of the TV. Zapping between SVT Swedish National Television and CNN. A little bit taken by the excellent and lengthy CNN reporting about the situation in Stockholm. Feeling cared about from over seas in the midst of their own political chaos. And holding hands with SVT:s calm voices, the Swedish natural level of emotion, even at a for the nation chocking moment like this.

Hours went by. Same pictures over and over again. People fleeing in panic. Same eyewitnesses. Same reporters running around chasing comments. The king and queen interrupting their trip to Brazil flying back.

There were the stories about many people lying dead and injured on the ground. Blod. Chaos. But no pictures. SVT, the responsible outlet sparing Sweden from what we don’t really need to see. And not putting dependents in the horrible situation recognizing a red coat or a hockey scarf on the ground.

Meanwhile, the news from Pentagon says there were Russians at the Syrian airbase attacked by 59 AmericanTomahawk missiles. So, Donald Trump, who even on the Wednesday condemning of the Syrian chemical attack left out mentioning Putin or Russia (although his ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley did, clearly, the same day) happened to launch missiles landing among Russians. This while FBI, the Senate and the Congress independently are investigating Russian links to the Trump campaign.

What a twist. I would say if this was a TV series. But it isn’t. This is for real. And inside me the little girl who grew up at the Botnian Bay coast during the cold war, the Cuba Crises and Bay of Pigs, awakens. The little Swedish girl squeezed in-between Nato and the Soviet Union. That girl is scared.

April 7 2017 was a dark and ugly day. In the evening this vague feeling of the need for family. Being by yourself on such a day is not a good thing. That’s when I called Trouble 2. And the tears suddenly did break through. I didn’t want to burden my son though, and luckily my friend Eva wasn’t busy. We watched the news and the developing for two hours together talking on the phone. Actually we didn’t say much. But we shared the evening and the moment. It felt good. It was a good thing.

Sweden is now among the world statistics for terror attacks performed like many others in Europe. Four people are dead and 10 wounded still hospitalized in different conditions, several severe. Of those who lost their lives one was a Britt, one from Belgium and two Swedes. An 11-year old girl never made it home from school on Friday afternoon.

We have seen them all over the world through the years, the walls of flowers on the scene for a insane terror tragedy. This weekend the people of Stockholm are building one of those walls. As well as building resistance. And opening up their hearts.

When the subway was shut down on Friday men and women gave strangers in need a ride. While people wasn’t able to get out of downtown, others opened up their homes offering shelter and food. Preschools prolonged their hours for the children who’s parents weren’t able to pick them up. And the police are love bombed with flowers and hugs for their compassionate work during this tragic event. Today tens of thousands gathered at Sergels Torg, the square right at the scene of the attack. Linking their arms together during a minute of silence. In tears and dignity listening to words and music of love, hope and comfort. Sharing the moment.

It was only a matter of time. Already in 2010 a failed attack occurred. And this might sound strange, but in a way the Friday terror attack in Stockholm is making us a part of something bigger. Sweden is no longer spared from the the horror and grief we have witnessed among our neighbors. Our innocence, in this sense, was Friday afternoon stolen from us, like so many other have been robbed. We are now sisters and brothers with our European friends Norway, Denmark, England, France, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Turkey and Russia. We share the experience. And might that be a good thing?