A few minutes before the exit poll at 19:00, two people in the small audience of his voting booth SYRIZA in the square of Klatmonos they play with their rosary. Some hold their face with their hands, index finger to mouth, thumb to cheek. Another nervously shakes his leg.

Until recently, the mood has been optimistic. “If SYRIZA doesn’t come out, I’ll have melancholy,” Ilyas Kofinas, 69, told K. “This is the most progressive party,” Chrysanthos, 17, said. “We do not vote for our parents,” Giannis, 17, also said, “we vote for ourselves, whatever happens, we will pay for it.”

He thinks SYRIZA deserves another chance. “Before, he couldn’t do what he wanted because he had Germany and memos over his head,” he says.

After the announcement of the exit poll, which we are watching on the huge screen on ERT, they remain optimistic. “Positive attitude, there is still room for cooperation, although I would not like it,” says Giannis.

“I was impressed that they first talked about a difference of 2%, then about 4%, and now it has grown to 11%,” says Chrysanthos. He’s going to say something about the exit poll. It is not right? He thinks about it, changes his mind, doesn’t finish the sentence. “That’s pretty true,” he finally says. “What can I say, we live with a little hope – nothing is over yet,” he concludes.

Mr. Coffina begins to fall into the anguish he expected. “It’s still early,” he emphasizes.

Theodoris, 58, looks at the exit poll incredulously. “I don’t believe in anything yet,” he tells K, “I’ve been waiting for this little game.”

Entering the SYRIZA headquarters in Kumundura just before 7:30 pm, a woman asks the question: “But what kind of destruction?”.