Dune Zero

The hustle and bustle at the Dune Bar, after the craftsman had done enough sanding, was certainly not characterized by polished dialogues, but more by laughter and relaxed, drink-soaked cheerfulness, which penetrated up to my balcony.

The operating host was a typical American one-off woman, with the body of a 20-year-old, the face of a 35-year-old and the grating voice of a 50-year-old. Resolute, two small children who romped around in the sand when they were there, mid-range cars from a southern German car company, she was busily preparing for the start of the season, I am open tomorrow she said to me in an undertone, don’t bother me here now, life is hard enough for me. There was something inhospitable in her tone, or perhaps you could call it honesty, that she completely disregarded the commercial opportunities with me. One more or less at the polished counter, she seemed relatively indifferent, and so I left it at that, analyzing the goings-on from my balcony. It was mostly white people who were there, but Latinos and blacks crossed this single corridor from the hotel parking lot to the beach mostly without much reaction. So did the Bride Tribe, who only turned up the music box on the beach and exuded much more joie de vivre than the Klan at the bar. And when they take a seat at the bar, they don’t stay seated for long, as if they realize that the Redneck Flag is waving in the wind. 

But apart from the fact that white vacationers were clearly in the majority, I did not observe any great resentment of a racial nature. People treated each other with respect, a peaceful coexistence, in the certainty that they had earned their right to be here, on Hutchinson Island, a paradise of the hard-working successful middle class.

At the weekend, one of them played guitar in the bar, his version of „Whish You Were Here“ wasn’t bad either, but I left this wish unfulfilled. 

Looking back, I am wondering, if they were this voters the 47. president was looking for to get himself a free ride for the rest of his life, while they only have to work even harder maybe. I think I saw the two Americas at that spot, the free spirit, and the Maga world in a nutshell. 

But that was in 2022 and the cold cruel storm on the other side of the pond, was getting closer to hit the way of european living for the next years anyway.