Most of us who have relocated to Luxembourg like it here. Many of us love the country. And you probably know at least one expat who loves it in a way that is still illegal in many parts of the world.
However, in the time of Covid, our warm feelings for the country are peppered with frustration. We suffer from loneliness, stress, depression, and worse. We recognize our helplessness.
We rely on the government to pull us out of this mess as quickly as possible, yet the government’s vaccine rollout has been unsatisfactory, to put it diplomatically. Other countries seem to sprint far ahead of us in terms of vaccination rates.
That is why we dream of barging into a meeting of ministers and saying, “Yo bitches, where’s my vaccine?” But would it actually be advisable to do this?
Many of us are guests in this country. Many of us are guests in the EU. We don’t want to appear pushy or ungrateful. Nobody likes a whiner. Yet we want to voice our feelings, and want to do it in a way that makes us sound like the rapper Ice-T before he started doing television and got soft.
True, calling a group of people “bitches” is usually considered impolite, especially if you’re addressing leaders who are used to being called by their official titles. However, “bitches” is not always an insult. It means so many other things. The word can be used to refer to your social circle. “These are my bitches” can mean “these people are my dear friends.” It’s all about tone and context.
Luxembourg is a cozy-sized country, a place where everyone seems to be within one or two degrees of each other. In a sense, we’re all friends, part of one social circle. Who doesn’t use fun, familiar language with friends? So, if by some freak occurrence you find someone from the government asking how you’re feeling these days, smile and in your friendliest voice, say, “Yo bitches, where’s my vaccine?”
