Well, today, shit got real.
This is the day that the US started to take things seriously.
I’m writing this more for posterity, than for information,
so if you’re bored, please move on.
I noticed when China was struggling, but when Italy got
overran and the virus seemed to go out of control there, I started to
worry. I brought this up with my ex, who
is currently in Illinois with the kids while I’m in Arizona taking care of
Mom. I asked him to be sure to get
enough supplies to cover for a couple of weeks if they get ill or have to quarantine. He told me to chill out, not to worry. I told Mom how I was growing a bit concerned
about it and thought we probably need to stock up a bit more on some things,
following the CDC recommendations to have a two week supply of food and
staples. She thought I was overreacting. After that, I thought, I’ll just keep this to
myself as they think I’m crazy.
Then yesterday happened. The World Health Organization (WHO)
has designated the Corona virus a pandemic.
The president addressed the concerns and shut down travel to/from
Europe. Today, the shit hit the
fan. The NBA and March Madness has been
cancelled. The stock market has crashed,
large gatherings like the Chicago St. Patrick’s day celebration have been
cancelled, Stadiums have cancelled events, Broadway has closed, Disneyland has
just closed, and as for us, Joe’s State Wrestling Championship has cancelled,
and his school has decided to switch to e-learning this next week following
with Spring break after that. School
will, hopefully, resume on April 6th. Certainly, there’s more to come.
The only mercy in all of this, is that the virus doesn’t
seem to be as hard on younger people.
Older people, though, and those with ‘underlying health issues’ (me!)
are more affected.
I am scared, but not panicked. There is a difference.
I don’t like being so far away from those I love (Mom is
visiting relatives in Indiana and I’m still in AZ with the kids in IL).
The last time there was panic like this in the US was after
911, and that was different. We were
scared of bad people. These are bad germs. Airport screening and a vigilant, if not
racist, eye will not keep these germs out.
They are here, they are incubating, they are coming. I heard one statistic that is predicting a
third of Americans will get the virus.
That is over 100 million people. So
far, there is a 2% rate of death. That
is over 2 million dead in the US alone. Those
are scary numbers, but they are predictions, not fact. It’s still scary.
People are going crazy, buying out toilet paper, hand sanitizer,
and soap. The roads on the way in to
work this morning were surprisingly empty.
People are cancelling vacation plans, and those that can work from home
are. Even my email at work today was
very slow, not much coming in. It’s all
unfolding like this odd origami flower, showing different levels of
intolerance, fear, and anxiety. What
will happen? Hopefully, this all blows
over and those blowhards among will laugh at how ‘crazy’ we all got. I hope that happens, because the alternative
is still, very, scary.
