The incumbent could give rise to confusion. “It’s a sad day for the whole country.” Then my photo appeared. And below, this subtitle: “Spain fired Jordi Évole”. Admittedly, the information was confusing. What did “Spain fired Jordi Évole” mean? Is he leaving the country? Is he going to live abroad? Has he signed for a foreign chain? Is he going to Al-Jazeera to whitewash Hamas? Or is it simply a polite way of saying that Évole has turned him down? And if this was the information, does the first headline fit them? It’s a sad day, but for the whole country?
Forgive me for using the third person to refer to me, something that is only available to celebrities like Julio Iglesias or Raúl González Blanco. But it is difficult to write this article without using the third person. I need to distance myself from the facts. It is not easy to talk about your own death.
The news broke a couple of weeks ago. It didn’t appear in any major media, in any major newspaper headline. Those who saw it told me “it came out on Facebook” or “it came out on Instagram”, the new references in journalism. “I got out”, as if the news were mushrooms. Just by the composition, you could see from an hour away that it was a fake. That’s why I didn’t give it more importance.
I set off the alarms when I got a call from my parents, who don’t have Facebook or Instagram. It had come to them the way private news had come before: by telephone. Several friends had called them, and with some delicacy, they probed them. How are you? How have the rains been these days? Listen, how is your son Jordi, how is he, is he in good health? Questions were rare, but my mother didn’t suspect until a swimming friend called her. Is it true that your son has died? Pam. Thus, without anesthesia.
I also received WhatsApps from friends and acquaintances, scared. What, let’s see, send a watsap to a friend that you don’t know if he’s alive or dead, what do you want him to tell you, but if he’s dead he won’t answer you. Do you want to have this message forever without double blue check? But listen, everyone uses whatever tactics they want to find out about things. The most daring ones called me directly on the phone. I noticed a bit of disappointment in some when they recognized by the voice that it was me who answered. The reality had disgusted them a good headline. And watch out for the dialogue that was established.
– Yes, tell me?
– George?
– Man, Antonio, how are you?
– I’m fine. (Silence). I was just calling to see if you were dead.
The one who gave me the most information was the photographer Salva Sansuán. First with a de-dramatizing message. “Jordi, what’s going on? Have they gone crazy? The people are the wafer”. And then he sent me the staff’s comments on the news: “Condolences to the family. A great professional, great communicator and great person. DEP”, “We will always remember his great work and his smile” “Wherever you are, we will always remember you”. With the body still warm, the haters had not yet reached the final judgment.
From here I want to thank all the displays of affection that my family has received these days. It’s still curious to attend your own funeral. Unfortunately this article will give even more wings to those who insist on killing for a click. But it has served as therapy for me. After a week full of barbarism, images we shouldn’t get used to, speeches by fanatics who preside over nations, and innocent deaths in the name of gods that don’t exist, my death was a macabre joke that it allowed me to forget these sad days for the whole country.