Quartz – “Food, water, and medicine are obvious essentials right now. We rely on these things to survive. Technically, however, we don’t need lots of the other stuff that was a given before the coronavirus pandemic made shut-ins of a huge chunk of the global population. Thus, what is essential has become a matter of great debate around the world. Depending on who you ask and where they live, the answers differ drastically. For example, in Belgium, where routine daily life has mostly ground to a halt, access to frites (or what we in English call french fries to the dismay of Belgians) is critical. Thus, friteries—kiosks devoted to the distribution of fries—remain open when many other businesses are shuttered. In California, marijuana has been deemed essential. In the Netherlands, too, the herbal medicine remains available to soothe the people in these very stressful times. France considers wine and fine food essential. And in Germany, France, and Belgium, booksellers are indispensable (link in French). In fact, one Berlin bookseller tells Quartz that the large, independent bookstore where he’s worked for the past year has seen some literary panic shopping of late. Readers are stocking up and aiming high…”