TestimonialsThey are nursing students in Lille and are preparing to vote for their first presidential election. But for whom? They still have no idea. Surprisingly, despite the profession they will exercise, the candidates’ health program does not guide their choice. On this level, they have few illusions.
Like every lunchtime, Mathilde Lison and Justine De Prestel, packed lunch in hand, meet in the boarding room of their friend Omerine Lambre at the nursing training institute (IFSI) of the Lille University Hospital. Nothing is missing in this student studio. A single bed, a fridge, a microwave and even a mini-oven. On the shopping shelf are lined up cans of beans, peas and carrots, all of the same brand, all in triplicate, like in a supermarket shelf.
Omerine’s parents, a worker father, a caregiver mother, pay 182 euros per month for this carefully furnished room. At the end of the school year, their 18-year-old daughter will leave the institute to become a caregiver, like her mother. And, at the end of the week, she will vote for the first time. His parents put pressure on him. “Omerine, vote well, don’t do anything, make the right choice”, they repeat to him. They “really suck with that”, breathes Mathilde in front of her bowl of pasta. Justine lets out a cry of astonishment when she realizes that the first round is so close. “I thought we had another month. We’re in deep shit.” she says.
Pecresse? “Isn’t he bald? »
So, in Omerine’s room, Mathilde, bobbed hair, thick glasses and above all outspoken, begins a game to find in time the ideal candidate to whom she will give her vote on April 10. Melenchon? “Too weird. » Zemmour? “Too racist. » Le Pen ? ” The same. » Hidalgo ? ” Who is she ? »
Omerine searches on her smartphone, Mathilde looks at the screen and bursts out laughing. « Miskine [la pauvre, en langage des jeunes], we don’t even know her. » Pecresse? “Isn’t he bald? » Re-phone, re-laugh, re-miskine. Jadot? “Green, green, green, it’s good, the planet, but not everyone can walk to work”, she protests.
“We are slaves to heal, that will not change. » Justine, student
For Macron, the girls hesitate. ” Brave “, launches Mathilde. Like her parents, it is for him that she plans to vote. Justine, she does not really know. She has tried to watch debates on BFM-TV, but she finds that “it goes too freestyle”. To honor this first vote without getting too wet, Mathilde suggests the possibility of a blank ballot: “At least you don’t feel guilty. If it’s someone bad, it’s not your fault. »
Their choice could have been made according to the proposals of the candidates to improve working conditions in the public hospital. However, they do not expect anything on this point. “We are slaves to treat, that will not change”, assures Justine. During the first wave of Covid-19, Omerine saw her mother come home afraid of catching the new virus, but she chose to do the same job because she “love helping people”. Just like Mathilde, who will continue despite everything, because “it takes a lot of people to do it”.
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