I remember some terrible storms when I was little. There was thunder, lightning, torrential rain, strong winds that tore off the roofs of houses and uprooted some trees. Sure, my brother and I were kids, we were scared, it was normal. But our grandmother was also scared, lit a candle – not just any candle, but a special, thicker one, which she had from Easter and kept especially for difficult moments.
She was with the candle, we were with our well known kids songs calling out for the sun.
We didn’t have cell phones that warned us daily that a storm was coming.
We have been receiving alerts for three days now. It’s raining heavily, that’s right. It is good for some people to know, to be prepared, so that we no longer have clogged canals, flooded streets, in Bucharest. In other localities, as well, it is good for the authorities to be warned and to worry in advance.
But I wonder if we don’t become like Petrică and the wolf.
Petrică was a little boy guarding a flock of sheep. One day, he started shouting loudly that the wolf was attacking his sheep. People jumped to help him but saw that there was no wolf around.
Another day, same thing. Petrică was bored and alerted people again.
But one day the wolf really came. Petrică started shouting to call people. But this time, people, accustomed to Petrica’s alerts, ignored him.