I was originally going to write about how active addicts are being affected by the COVID-19 virus; I changed my mind. My own and only sibling passed away a two weeks ago Saturday; a friend's husband from church passed that next Tuesday from COVID-19. Another friend's son told her that during his shift this past week at a local hospital in Oakland County, he was responsible for bagging eight bodies during his own eight-hour shift. Someone else I used to see professionally was discovered deceased in their home the other day. COVID-19 is no catastrophic fiction; it's real. We are going through, as author and speaker Brene Brown has stated, one hell of a "FFT". You fill in the blank there: "F$*)_ing First Time.
As with any "F$*)_ing First Time" experience that is truly catastrophic in nature, we are witnessing and hearing all sorts of stuff. So much of what we are doing is SO good, just as so much of what we are doing is so NOT good. Yet that's our human nature at work. We can all be beautiful...and yet we can all be disastrous too. There's no other way to put it. We create 27 face masks for those around us in need...volunteer for Meals on Wheels...and then melt down like the world is ending because our Keurig didn't work right this morning.
Not since the Spanish flu of 1918 have we experienced such a massive pandemic. Back then, it still took two years for its final toll to be exacted upon humanity. Yet as we go through COVID-19 in real time, it's hard to know what exactly to focus our own minds on. Do we wear PPE "everywhere" we go when we go "out" to get our "essential items" like groceries and personal care products? Do we "stretch" the shelter-in-place order by getting together with certain family members or friends SO LONG as we all wear PPE AND maintain appropriate social distance from one another? Listen, we may be compliant about many things---but we are also rebels at heart. I have walked into my local superstore since this thing started and I am still seeing more people shopping WITHOUT PPE of any kind...including their minor children. By now, we know that "something" is better than nothing at all to cover our nose and mouths; why are we still NOT doing that at the very least when "out" in public? I have no answer...and no idea why...
Just the other day, there were photos being posted on Facebook of taped-off areas within Walmart where "non-essential" items are being sold like flower seeds, wasp spray, and other gardening supplies. Same also for the home improvement-related products sections inside Home Depot and Lowe's. Apparently, our governor wants people to NOT spend any extra time inside stores buying anything other than groceries and personal care items. I understand, but I also have to wonder how people are being let in to any given store with several family members...all without wearing any form of PPE...and including minor children who are free to run around inside like Target has been magically transformed into Chuck E. Cheese? How is that acceptable "public" behavior while maintaining appropriate social distancing? It's not folks. This way of governing reminds me of when I was a kid in 3rd grade and the whole class got penalized because one a$$hole was acting out inappropriately that day. Sorry, that doesn't work for me. Stop them before they walk in by making sure ONE PERSON ONLY to shop inside any given store. And if they don't have a face mask on (at the very least)...hand them a bandana to tie around their nose and mouth before they are allowed entry in. Doesn't that seem a bit more "humane" in this time of COVID-19? Sheesh!
Grant it, I know that nobody can take being sheltered in for more than 45 days; that is clearer than any bell you can hear ringing from six feet away. It won't matter if cases are up, down, or sideways by April 30th (when our most recent "shelter-in" order may expire). People will start losing their sh** in a very major way if they aren't free to go out and play after that date. So let them. COVID-19 is going to be around for as long as its around. If we choose to pretend "All is well.." when it's not, that's on each of us who refrain from social distancing...or wearing PPE...or washing our hands the "right" way. Nothing like someone becoming sick-hospitalized and/or dying whom we loved and cared about to wake us up to the seriousness of our current collective situation.
What I've learned so far through COVID-19 is that it is truly one heck of a FFT experience for all of us. If we learn the right lessons as a result, while maintaining our own personal health and safety, that's great! If not, there is nothing I can do about that. People get to choose their own unique brand of rebel-based behaviors so long as they remain citizens of this "land of the free". I think. We'll see how long that lasts.
Until next post...
As with any "F$*)_ing First Time" experience that is truly catastrophic in nature, we are witnessing and hearing all sorts of stuff. So much of what we are doing is SO good, just as so much of what we are doing is so NOT good. Yet that's our human nature at work. We can all be beautiful...and yet we can all be disastrous too. There's no other way to put it. We create 27 face masks for those around us in need...volunteer for Meals on Wheels...and then melt down like the world is ending because our Keurig didn't work right this morning.
Not since the Spanish flu of 1918 have we experienced such a massive pandemic. Back then, it still took two years for its final toll to be exacted upon humanity. Yet as we go through COVID-19 in real time, it's hard to know what exactly to focus our own minds on. Do we wear PPE "everywhere" we go when we go "out" to get our "essential items" like groceries and personal care products? Do we "stretch" the shelter-in-place order by getting together with certain family members or friends SO LONG as we all wear PPE AND maintain appropriate social distance from one another? Listen, we may be compliant about many things---but we are also rebels at heart. I have walked into my local superstore since this thing started and I am still seeing more people shopping WITHOUT PPE of any kind...including their minor children. By now, we know that "something" is better than nothing at all to cover our nose and mouths; why are we still NOT doing that at the very least when "out" in public? I have no answer...and no idea why...
Just the other day, there were photos being posted on Facebook of taped-off areas within Walmart where "non-essential" items are being sold like flower seeds, wasp spray, and other gardening supplies. Same also for the home improvement-related products sections inside Home Depot and Lowe's. Apparently, our governor wants people to NOT spend any extra time inside stores buying anything other than groceries and personal care items. I understand, but I also have to wonder how people are being let in to any given store with several family members...all without wearing any form of PPE...and including minor children who are free to run around inside like Target has been magically transformed into Chuck E. Cheese? How is that acceptable "public" behavior while maintaining appropriate social distancing? It's not folks. This way of governing reminds me of when I was a kid in 3rd grade and the whole class got penalized because one a$$hole was acting out inappropriately that day. Sorry, that doesn't work for me. Stop them before they walk in by making sure ONE PERSON ONLY to shop inside any given store. And if they don't have a face mask on (at the very least)...hand them a bandana to tie around their nose and mouth before they are allowed entry in. Doesn't that seem a bit more "humane" in this time of COVID-19? Sheesh!
Grant it, I know that nobody can take being sheltered in for more than 45 days; that is clearer than any bell you can hear ringing from six feet away. It won't matter if cases are up, down, or sideways by April 30th (when our most recent "shelter-in" order may expire). People will start losing their sh** in a very major way if they aren't free to go out and play after that date. So let them. COVID-19 is going to be around for as long as its around. If we choose to pretend "All is well.." when it's not, that's on each of us who refrain from social distancing...or wearing PPE...or washing our hands the "right" way. Nothing like someone becoming sick-hospitalized and/or dying whom we loved and cared about to wake us up to the seriousness of our current collective situation.
What I've learned so far through COVID-19 is that it is truly one heck of a FFT experience for all of us. If we learn the right lessons as a result, while maintaining our own personal health and safety, that's great! If not, there is nothing I can do about that. People get to choose their own unique brand of rebel-based behaviors so long as they remain citizens of this "land of the free". I think. We'll see how long that lasts.
Until next post...