The mayor sold the thermal baths to some Austrian investors while half the city still heats with wood stoves in January. He called it "modernization," like we’re supposed to be grateful for glass staircases in spas we can’t afford. My mother stood in line two hours to get a dental appointment at the state clinic yesterday, her gums bleeding into her tea. They said the equipment is broken, no replacements. But the mayor’s new website has a three-minute video tour of the renovated lobby, with soft piano music. I keep thinking about the steam rising off the old baths at dawn, how it used to look like the city was breathing. Now it just holds its breath.
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