Friday morning, I left a bit latish on the way to work. By now, I now traffic (knew, actually) like the back of my hand. Takes me no more than 25-30 minutes to get to the office, and I squeeze as much as I possibly can of sleeping time before taking off. Anyhow, I was 75% there, when I reach the 9th of July Avenue - apparrently one of the longest and thickest of the world - and I see an unnatural amount of traffics. Cars were piling up for what seemed like forever.
However, this traffic jam was impossible to corroborate: I
could only see 3 or 4 cars ahead and the morning radio shows were busy not saying anything. What was supposed to take 5 minutes finally took 90 minutes, at a rate of 5-7 minutes per block. By now, you are probably asking yourself what happened - and you are correct. Usually, at times like this, I expect the ambulance beeping past cars in an effort to get to the collision zone. This was not the case. No ambulance, no fire department, no police. Just cars. What can it be? As I grew close, so did the intrigue, since there was no explanation popping up amidst the traffic.I was only a block away from the Obelisco when it hit me: it can't be, was my initial reaction. But it was, alas, it was. As a way to commemorate the 100th (or 110th) anniversay of
Argentina-Germany relationships, a few bright German companies (Osram, Allianz, etc.), sponsored by the lovely and considerate Buenos Aires government, decided to put up a concert stage IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE OF THE MAIN ARTERIES IN BUENOS AIRES (the Corrientes Avenue in the 9th of July). The traffic jam happened because cars could turn at approx. 1/5 of original capacity, meaning that a 15 minute ride could at the very least that 5 x as much.During that day (the first day of Spring, a no-shool day) 3 second-rate models distributed condoms (german condoms?) to innocent bypassers who were starting Spring on a happy note. My beginning of Spring was miserable, thanks to German companies and a Government who sincerely does not care about its people. There was no way anyone with half a brain could ignore the impact of setting up the stage where it was. Now again, 50% of a brain is a lot to ask for ... even in a fictional Argentina!!!
