dimarts, 29 d’agost del 2023

Is it really their opposite will?

 Is it really their opposite will?


Peter, Sharon, and Jack were Catalan independence supporters who enjoyed the Basque movement during the 80s and 90s, which is why, whenever they could, they attended the popular festivals in Donostia, Gasteiz, Irunea, Bilbao, etc., normally called "Semana Grande". They were more of the radical left side in politics, and they used to go through the streets of the old town where there were popular pubs where people with similar ways of thinking enjoyed the parties, drinking, singing, laughing, arguing, taking drugs, well, there was a bit of everything. So one year in the mid-90s, they were on their last day of vacation in Donostia. On this day, there was an annual event called "Salve" that was commanded by Spanish unionists. This event ran through the streets of Donostia. It was a provocative event; there used to be incidents between the protesters against that event and the police forces that protected it. So, after Peter, Emile, and Jack had lunch, they started an argument. Peter wanted to go to protest against the unionist event, while Sharon and Jack didn't want to risk missing the train back home because the police arrested them. At this time, Peter got angry and went to the train station. It didn't make sense for him to be in the old town and leave before the demonstration started just because they didn't want to take risks. On the other hand, Sharon and Jack saw nothing wrong with staying there for a while instead of spending the last hours of their vacation cooped up in the station bar. In the end, Peter met two girls from Barcelona at the station bar. They enjoyed the afternoon together, drinking and sharing experiences. Sharon and Jack did not appear at the station, so Peter went to Barcelona without knowing anything about his friends. At that time, there were still no mobile phones, so there was little Peter could do. Even so, before the departure of the train, Peter had the dilemma: what should he do? Walking the streets looking for them? What if they catch the next train while he looks for them? In the end, they were adults, and Peter had no way of doing anything that would really produce satisfying results. Peter was right; the next day the three of them met in their small town, and Sharon and Jack explained how, unintentionally, they were abducted towards the manifestation where they suddenly found themselves on the front line of the conflict where the police were shooting rubber bullets at them. Sharot was able to catch a ball that she kept as a battle trophy. Many, many years later, Peter is still thinking about how willingness and reality can be in an opposite way many times; at the end, the circumstances command us, despite our willingness. So, those who wanted not to take a risk were at risk, and those who wanted the risk got free.


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Well, could it be a double psychological effect? Maybe Sharon and Jack didn't dare admit that they wanted to see the conflict, and this served as an excuse for Peter to avoid it.

Who knows?

 
Antoni Font 29/08/2023, Aberdeen.

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