Despite the fact that the decorations shine in the streets and houses of the country, that the accelerated mobility typical of the time is felt and that some customs are still maintained, the Christmas in the Dominican Republic it is not the same.
Shadows, and not colours, obscure some aspects of what is considered the “best time of the year”, thus preventing its full enjoyment.
2022 was a year of “recovery”, after the effects left by the Covid-19 pandemic, which surprised the world at the end of 2021, we live in a resentful economy and as if that were not enough, a significant increase in violence and crime, which affects even Christmas celebrations.
Because yes, going out to the streets to celebrate is no longer so attractive for those who care about their safety and that of their family, and being outside the house can be an extreme sport in which at any moment the sound of a ¨motor¨ can turn on the alerts and change everything.
But, these facts are not the only ones that add to the shadows that overshadow this holiday, there have always been factors that overshadow Christmas, so much so that they seem typical of it.
And, although I don’t want to be a killjoy, I feel comfortable mentioning a few.
Lost bullets
There are those who the effusiveness of the festivities makes their reasoning hollow and the best idea they have to celebrate is shooting into the air, a shot without eyes or target sensor, which generally lands on that innocent person who, like the aforementioned who pulled the trigger, I was just celebrating Christmas.
The numbers of victims of stray bullets tend to increase in this time that calls for reflection and they are in the family, precisely causing that social nucleus to remain incomplete by taking the life of one of its members.
The saddest thing? It is not always possible to find the cause of said death.
What fireworks put out
“Don’t let the light of a firework extinguish your life”, this is the name of this year’s operation of the Ministry of Interior and Police, with which it seeks to reduce deaths and accidents due to fireworks, and the fact that have to carry out an operation for this every year, it already sheds light on the number of lives that have been lost or affected by these.
These and other shadows accompany us every year on these dates, which should be the perfect setting to create the best memories, however, not all have the same luck.
However, we are still naive, that we long for the perfect Christmas, without shadows, without crying, and it is the one we wish for everyone.
