Gray people

In addition to everything that happened to me on a personal level, this year I will remember for the fact, that my city took first place in the world, several times. You may think that this is something positive, a success or an achievement, but unfortunately not. Belgrade has been the city with the most polluted air several times during the year and it was really hard to breathe.

If you've ever wondered what it’s like to live in the most polluted city, you’ll find out from my personal experience.

Breathing is essential if you want to live. When someone threatens your right to breathe, it is worse than a virus or any other danger, that seems to be more important to people.

We lived in the gray. The sky was gray, the air was gray. We were gray. I started coughing a lot because the company I work for is located in the most polluted part of the city. Coughing made all my activities difficult. I coughed all day, every day. Many times I found myself in an awkward situation in the office or during an important meeting. I spent the nights in the bathroom, so as not to wake up my family by coughing. Neighbors thought I was infected with the Covid-19 virus, so they ran away from me. They were scared.

My fellow citizens are afraid of the virus more than anything else, and they are not aware, that they are in much greater danger. They have turned gray from gray and harmful, polluted air, but they still think the virus is the greatest danger to them.

Gray people are fleeing the danger on the way to the safety, which will be brought to them by laws, medicines, doctors, security locks, law enforcement officers and some powerful people, whose voice resonates everywhere. While they believe that they are protected from all accidental or imposed dangers, real and unreal, these gray people are one step away from their last breath, from the final goodbye with nature, which is losing its trace in the gray.

My city is called Belgrade. Translated into English, it means "white city", but unfortunately it is no longer white. It is so gray that sometimes it is not visible. It disappears in the fog and smog. In the daily news you can only hear recommendations on how to behave in a polluted environment.

"Try to do all the activities at home and stay outside as short as possible."

"Do not breathe deeply."

"When you are outside, take frequent breaks from everything you do."

There are a lot of recommendations, but what is missing is a clearly defined public policy, aimed at applying methods to solve the problem of polluted air. A lot can change. A way of heating, a way of producing energy, developing a system of public transport in order to have less private cars, that pollute the air, developing a system of alternative ways of urban mobility - bicycle paths, pedestrian paths... There are a lot of possible changes and solution.

I found an immediate solution for my cough. I can no longer live without seawater-based nasal sprays. But that's not the end of the fight. Every citizen must contribute to the fight for fresh unpolluted air. Nothing is more important than breathing. Breathing is life. Let's save the air!

Thanks for your time.

Article and lead image are original and mine.

Best regards to all readers and writers.