What is really important? What touches us today – and will not go away tomorrow? It’s the things that have moved us since human existence: happiness, love, family, partnership, time, stress, loneliness, farewell, grief.
BILD columnist Louis Hagen*, Coming from a German-Jewish family, he sought answers to the eternal questions of mankind from poets, thinkers and researchers. And found a few answers that are amazingly simple – and yet can enrich our lives.
★★★
Saturday was family day – in the shopping trolley. Two sons (3 and 5) stormed the supermarket. The winner was the first to climb into the shopping cart, which had been converted into a mini car. The adventure began – the journey between Mickey Mouse books and chocolate wonderland.
It was over at 2 p.m. – like everywhere in Germany. Why I’m telling you this: A BILD reader commented on Aldi Nord’s plan to close its stores at 8 p.m. in the future for reasons of energy costs and wrote: “Shops used to close at 6 p.m. and we still managed to go shopping .”
BILD columnist Louis Hagen
Not everything was better in the past – on the contrary. But we didn’t know any different and lived with it well.
When I sometimes go shopping around 9 p.m., I often find myself in front of almost empty shelves. Try to get some fresh soup greens on Saturday night – good luck. Or even fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme or parsley.
I usually make my Bolognese sauce with frozen vegetables and dried spices.
What I’m saying is that a lot of the things that are coming are not really restrictions. These are things that have been tried and tested by several generations of people who shop.
It’s been a while, but many still remember: anyone who needed cash on Saturday looked stupid. Banks closed, there were no ATMs yet. The so-called Eurocheck was the only salvation. You could also use it to go shopping: during the week until 6 p.m., on Saturdays until 2 a.m.
Nobody is starving. And the kids had fun adventure shopping. On Saturday, family day. And it was often said: “Can we come with you?” “Yes, but you have to hurry. They close at two o’clock.” And so it happened.
* Louis Hagen (75) was a member of the BILD editor-in-chief for 13 years and is now a consultant at the communications agency WMP. His texts are available as a book at koehler-mittel-shop.de.