Let me tell you a story about Vlad Tepes.
Upon hearing that the noble people started to become his enemies and traitors/pretenders of his weak throne, he duped them by hosting a feast, a faux celebration. The same nobles buried his elder brother Mircea the Great alive.
When they were safely seated, Vlad asked them how many rulers of Wallachia they had outlived. When it was clear that they had something to do with the deaths of his family, immediately Vlad ordered his men to close the doors and windows, and then, all of sudden everybody was arrested. Either they were massacred or forced to do hard labor rebuilding his castle. It was said that some of them who got to live longer worked until their dresses fell off from their skin.
Another story was his attitude toward the poor, the crippled and the vagrants. He was so distraught that their tribes increased and were crowding the streets of Romania. One day he announced that he would invite them for a feast. As the guests began to eat, Vlad appeared before them and asked them what would be their desire in their lifetime.
“What else do you desire? Do you want to be without cares, lacking nothing in this world?”
When they confirmed that it was their wish. He ordered to close the premises and set everything on fire. No one had escaped the onslaught.
I though of those stories the first time I saw the Opernball on television in 2002. Robert Hysek said goodbye, Mr. Richard Lugner did what he did best making a doof out of himself, the rich people and the celebrities came and went, got interviewed, and the ordinary people stashed their (then) 3000 Schilling-entrance ticket away, ate the overpriced sausages, danced boogie and waltz around the majestic rooms of the State Opera! Outside a group of “angry” anti-bourgeois was protesting against the “excess” happening inside.
I still remember when ORF interviewed one protester, a female student, I suppose, why she was there.
She said the money they spent in organizing the ball belongs to them, them, the “poor” people.
As I see it, they looked really bored and they just wanted some action. One of the few people I know was one of them years ago. “They just do it for the sake of doing it.” He said. The “sense” of doing it is gone. The fight is over.
In light of this event it looks as if the protesters have something much better to do tomorrow. According to some newspapers no one tried to ask for permission yet for the yearly demo against the famous ball.
But the chief of the police thinks that it will happen no matter what. It has been a tradition, the authorities say, that it is not announced or it is registered using a false identification.
Either way, the police hopes it will be peaceful tomorrow night.

–oo–

I am sort of trembling now. Half an hour ago the police was trying to open one flat in our building. There was a couple of huge police cars parked in front and their white-bluish siren was a menace.
I thought it was our washing machine doing its last stage of wringing the clothes. Alas, it was not. The way they bang the door was amazingly loud and then they were not satisfied that they used a tool to force it open. It was noisy outside. I heard voices of women and men, the police’s walkie-talkie and all.
I think they were not successful in opening the door as they still kept on knocking.
Now it is silent again. They seem to be gone. I am not sure what they have found. Perhaps, Heute has the answer???

Related posts:

1. Albertina and the demo
2. Where’s the free market when you need one?
3. Public Service Announcement
4. “Renee Pornero”?
5. Cheibani Wague