A letter from the mayor

This weekend I saw a ‘To the residents of’ lying on the mat. Not exactly the letters I want to open right away. What once cost me dearly, when it turned out later that the water pressure would be lower for a week in my street and my beloved, out of sheer desperation, installed a new thermostat because I couldn't rinse my hair. A case of ‘should have known’. That's why I opened it on Monday morning anyway, it was a letter from the mayor.

‘You might not have expected this,’ she began. Not really, no, even though the sender was my municipality. The subject made it clear that the letter was not good news, because it said: ‘Concerns about corona infections’. My neighbor had already told me that suddenly hundreds of infections had appeared in the village within a week, but when the mayor starts writing letters, it's a different matter than what the neighbor says, let's just say.

‘The number of infections in our municipality is rising enormously. And that is concerning. Very concerning. It's not two minutes to twelve, but well past twelve,’ said my mayor. I thought a bit shamefully back to that Saturday when I was sniffing around Hema with a face mask on. I did need candles, but maybe I was also just wandering around the store to see if there was anything to shop for. Because that's still allowed, right?

Rutte already made quite an impression with his press conference, but that letter on the mat was much more physical. Of course, I was already keeping my distance, no more than three visitors, no block parties (that corona vocabulary is growing with the conference), mask on at Hema and yet I received the letter. Was I doing it right? Did it need to be better? The mayor almost made me doubt.

Still, I found it quite sympathetic. I have a mayor who cares about people. Who asks if we all want to do a little better than good. Who takes the trouble to put it on paper (probably together with someone) and send it to me. Because she wants us to feel free again soon and be closer together. And who at the last moment asks if we can also think of the lonely people around the corner or next to us, with a card or a note in the mailbox. ‘I count on you,’ she concludes.

You know, I wish everyone could receive such a letter and have such a mayor.