Beach, Burgers & Beers

So here we are again. For almost two years now, it feels as if we are going around in circles, not getting anywhere: from tomorrow onwards, a lockdown has been announced. While for the past few weeks, everything was already closed from 17:00 onwards, now everthing will be closed period. The Christmas holidays will start a week earlier for all schools, and at the university, once more, we have to move online. 

Exhaustion is settling in. I realise I am dreading the thought that I will have to teach in my living room, in front of a camera once again. My daughter, who started primary school in September 2019 (or group 3, as it is called in the Netherlands, because the two years of pre-school here are called group 1 and 2), has never had a full normal school year in her life. It may explain why she is having difficulties to focus on her school tasks (although I do recognise some of that short attention span from my own school days, so it is also something that is part of what she inherited from me - but I am certain this cycle of lockdowns and school closings does not help). It depresses me, too, that the gyms are closing as well. I really enjoy the healthy feeling that comes with regular workouts and have felt in good shape for the past few months, something I really lost during previous lockdowns. 

Predictably, people are responding according to whatever bubble they're in: fury and anger among those who have decided, against all evidence to the contrary, that the pandemic is a global hoax/trumped up by fearmongers/some evil conspiracy from the elite or any combination of this; almost gleeful celebration among a group of people who believe it is possible to actually get rid of the virus under the battle cry of "Zero Covid", a bunch of fanatics who irritate me to no end, although not as much as the Covid deniers, with their calls for school closures and strict lockdowns; and, among those of us who are not dedicated to any of these causes, anything on a scale from quiet resignation to noisy despair. 

Almost as maddening as the pandemic itself, is the constant stream of opinions, the endless babbling of those who believe, without any expertise in the matter, that there is a better strategy than the one currently pursued by the authories; and who seem to be convinced that the world is desparate to hear them loudly exclaim these beliefs. The fact is, that at one moment in time during the pandemic, any of the strategies pursued by a number of different countries seemed to be the absolute best strategy of all, only to be proven to be not so good, or downright disastrous at any other moment in time. 

Which is not to say I am strongly convinced that the Dutch authorities are doing particularly well. Our government's policies can only really be explained by concluding that they seem to pursue a strategy that is strangely reminiscent of how social issues are normally approached in the Netherlands: the government enters into negotiations with a number of parties who represent the interests of those involved - unions, business representatives, pressure groups, after which all bodies involved sign up to the solution that is reached in this way. Judging from their behaviour, our government seem to see the virus as some sort of social force that can be reasoned with, represented by our national Outbreak Management Team (OMT), a group of medical and social experts advising the government on which measures to take during the pandemic. Any measures the government decides upon, however, seem now to be an outcome of negotiations between the government, the OMT, but also other interested parties, such as lobby groups for restaurants and cafes, and other business, the educational sector, political parties, etc. That is, of course, bizarre, because an advisory council is not a negotiation partner, and a pandemic is a force of nature and not a social issue. 

At times, though, this has been a very effective strategy leading to a very well-balanced way of dealing with the pandemic. Currently, though, this seems to have led to a situation where the Netherlands is doing significantly worse than other countries: we are lagging behind in distributing vaccin boosters to the population which turn out to be necessary because the strength of the original vaccinations is waning. Furthermore, over the past weeks the capacity of hospitals and other care providers was stretched to the limit because the government did not want to return to new, stricter measures, feeling that the peak of the current wave was about to be reached without necessitating these. That strategy - which I do not think was particularly bad in principle, because there are other interests than merely keeping everybody alive and healthy, such as providing people with education and a meaningful way of living their life - turned out to be disastrous because a new mutation of the virus that suddenly popped up, far more contagious than previous varieties, will probably lead to a new peak within weeks, and is likely to overwhelm a health system that has no reserves left. 

Anyway - here we are. Billie Stormzy is still sleeping his afternoon nap, but because this will be the last time in what could be long weeks or even months, I am taking his sister, Rihanna Gaga, out for some shopping and fun. The shopping is cut short when my partner rings and tells me we forgot to pick up some stuff from my daughter's athletics association and there's only half an hour left to do so. We quickly cycle from the mall next to the Scheveningen Boulevard, although Rihanna Gaga is absolutely not pleased by this sudden turn of events. She brightens up, however, when we have collected an assortment of goodies - a training bag, toilet bag and towel - with the logo of her athletics association and her own name on it. And she's even more happy that upon arrival at De Pier, it turns out that the indoors playground there is still open. We've tried to go here several times over the past few months, but always found it closed somehow, so this is nice. She pops in.

I phone my partner, who tells me Billie Stormzy has woken up - they'll join us in a bit. We're planning to have dinner at De Pier today, but I tell her they'll have to hurry up a little, since it's already a quarter past four and everything will close at five. We agree that we'll have dinner at Beach, Burger & Beers, one of the restaurants at the food boulevard of De Pier. While Rihanna Gaga plays at the playground I stroll over to their counter to order food, so that it'll be ready when Billie Stormzy and his mother arrive.

The burgers at Beach, Burger & Beers are named after famous beaches from around the world. I settle on a Copacobana Burger myself (which comes with homemade chipotlemayonayse and smoked bacon for €8,5) and the vegan option for my partner (€9). From the example meals displayed on the counter, I understand the portions of fries are rather small, so in order to make sure there's enough for everyone, I add two separate portions of fries. I'm given a buzzer that will go off when the food is ready, and put my coat and Rihanna Gaga's on one of the tables to make sure we have a place too sit. 

I return to the playground, because Rihanna Gaga has emphatically asked me to do so. Part of the fun, you see, is that I watch whatever she does there - or, as my partner once said, one of the main functions of parents in the eyes of children is to marvel at whatever their offspring does. And indeed Rihanna Gaga brightens up when she spots me through the maze of the indoor playground - I have to look at her tricks on the trampoline, then she wants to play some sort of hide and seek where I have to spot her from where I stand in front of the maze as she disappears into the labyrintine corridors of the two floor playground.  It's funny how she basically has been playing in this type of playground almost her entire life, given that there was a similar one we regularly visited in Tunisia. The buzzer goes off, just as Rihanna Gaga's time is up, so I tell her to get ready to leave, then speed off to collect our dinner, which I put on the table. Then, after I've gone to get Rihanna Gaga and we return, the others have found us and are already sitting at the table. 

"Why didn't you pick the couch?" Rihanna Gaga wants to know. She means a comfy chesterfield overlooking the sea and the beach next to the windows. Because it was occupied when I got a table, I tell her, and besides - eating dinner in a couch isn't super handy. Rihanna Gaga doesn't agree and takes one of the portions of fries with her to go and sit on the couch. Billie Stormzy immediately follows her, intend as always to do whatever his sister does. We manage to entice him back to the table, however, with the promise of fries - it's clear his sister will be less willing to share than us. 

Both hamburgers are great: tasty, clearly made with fresh and high quality ingredients. The fries are really nice as well, but the example dishes turn out to have been poor indications: two menus would have been enough for all four of us, and two extra portions of fries turn out to be a bit too much. Billie Stormzy really enjoys his fries, though. Always a picky eater, this is one dish he can't get enough of. My partner and I have also gotten a specialty beer, some water for Rihanna Gaga and orange juice for Billie Stormzy. 

It's a nice atmosphere. Remarkably enough, De Pier is not flooded by people like us, grabbing their last chance to go out before the lockdown starts: it's busy, but not more busy than you'd expect on a random Saturday afternoon in December. Beach, Burgers & Beers has a nice vibe. It's main stand, containing the counter and the kitchen, looks like most foodstands at De Pier food boulevard, executed in wood and white tiles. The furniture is practical, but nice: canteen chairs, wooden tables and those chesterfields, with an impressive looking black steel wood burner adding a cozy feel. Several large wooden mobile plant troughs containing large green plants and coloured lamps on the ceiling add to the coziness, despite the fact that the no-frills architecture of De Pier itself is mostly industrial. The most striking feature here is a large lamp-like structure made entirely out of green beer bottles, surrounded by Heineken beer crates. This haphazard way of decorating is quite typical for most places at De Pier food Boulevard - which creates some risks if you're visiting with an entrepreneurial toddler like Billie Stormzy. Today, however, apart from a tense moment when he comes too close to the wood burner, Billie Stormzy is mostly content with sitting on his mother's lap and enjoying the fries. 

After finishing our hamburgers, we join Rihanna Gaga on the couch, with our beers and what remains of the fries. It's already dark, and we gaze out of the window towards the north, where we can follow the coast line until the horizon. Most people have left: it's approaching five o'clock and the people working at the food boulevard are tydiying up and closing their stands for who knows how long - the lockdown is called until at least 14 January, but there is no telling whether it won't continue after that. There's a couple sitting in the chesterfield next to ours, but apart from them, everybody has left already. Behind us, a few people are still strolling through De Pier's main corridor, but they are all moving towards the exit. Billie Stormzy sits on his mum's lap again, rihanna Gaga leans on me. "And all of this within ten minutes walking from our home," I say. "We should do this more often!"