War, inflation, climate change, pandemic – there is probably no one who could deny that we are in a deep crisis, the deepest and darkest in decades. This time the effects are noticeable for each individual – and that distinguishes the current downturn from those of the past, when most people only ever had a bad feeling, but fortunately the actual effect on their own wallet or even their living conditions mostly failed to materialize.
In the early 1980s, one could watch with great pleasure on television how Monaco Franze enjoyed wild strawberries and smoked salmon in the English Garden with his dashing English classmates, while his noble Spatzl and the demure Olga choked down the Leberkäse at home. Frau von Soettingen folded the housekeeper Ernie Singerl because she thought “18 marks for a handful of vegetables was a lot”. The grumpy maid then lamented 32 marks for the roast pork at the Viktualienmarkt, last week it was 28. And she predicted: “If it doesn’t cost 40 next week, then we’re all lucky.”
In the meantime, however, the laughter gets stuck in your throat when you look at the prices at the gas station or in the shop. And one wonders how long it will be possible for families of school children to set off on the first flight of the year during the Easter holidays, and fuel-guzzling off-road vehicles are parked at the traffic lights in the district communities despite climate change (probably because their owners are afraid of the potholes caused by the crisis against axle fractures). And one fears with Jérôme Boateng whether he will probably get rid of his 11.5 million euro villa in Grünwald.
More dark clouds are gathering, for example, practical workshops in Ottobrunn and Garching are about to close because they either shy away from expensive renovations or have no chance against online trading. Which will force consumers to expose themselves to the do-your-own and do-it-yourself chains. Perhaps the slogan “Keep it up like this” would be more appropriate, coincidentally the title of the Monaco episode quoted above.
Not much is saved, last Tuesday, for example, all the refrigerators and freezers in Ottobrunn’s largest supermarket broke down – which is why everything from fresh milk to pre-baked rolls had to be thrown away. The law stipulates that things can no longer be sold if the cold chain has been interrupted for even a short time. A regulation that should bring tears to the eyes of people in need in the war zones of the world. Sometimes only Monaco Franze, who quotes his mom in the series, really helps. She always said: “Whenever you think it’s no longer possible, a little light comes from somewhere.”