Anybody out there?
I know it’s been awhile and there’s no excuse why I haven’t written. I do apologize and hope that all of you are in good health and safe with loved ones.
Speaking of loved ones, how are you getting along with them now that you can’t get away from them? LOL I know, bad joke. It is the truth though. Not being able to go anywhere or do anything we ‘normally’ do when not faced with a pandemic like this is the hard part. Especially when some of us don’t recall when there was a war with rationing of sugar and other necessities. Even though I did not live through that time period, I recall hearing stories of how ‘rationing books’ of tickets were given to families to get things like milk, eggs, bread, sugar, etc. My parents were part of it and my grandparents told the stories of what happened. Air-raid drills and blackouts were commonplace for them. And this gives way to what I wanted to say about our current situation.
Today, we are faced with a pandemic (much like AIDS was when I was younger). Now we all lived through AIDS when we thought that we were going to die from just being in the same room with an infected person. We made it through that – we’ll make it through this. We all saw it coming and we knew we were due for something. Nature has a habit of ‘culling the herd’ every once in awhile and we were due. Influenza, AIDS, Polio, the Black Plague, etc. have all been ‘culling’ tools by Nature. This time Nature just decided to do it globally. Look at the wonderful things that have happened since we have started this.
Venice has gotten clear canals for the first time in years.
The dolphins and whales are coming back to certain areas that they decided to vacate because of pollution.
The birds are singing and flying above our heads more frequently and sounding happier than they have in years.
But I believe the most important thing that has happened is:
We have come to appreciate each other on a new level. We have seen how important each of us truly is in the major machine we call life. Just because we all go about our individual lives doesn’t mean that we don’t effect each other in major ways. Look at the truck drivers who deliver the goods we rely on so much. And the cashiers and clerks that sell us the goods that are delivered to the stores. Most importantly, the doctors, nurses and technicians that are the front line in every health related events on a daily basis. All of these people are risking their own lives and happiness to make sure the rest of us are as safe and supplied as they can humanly make it. These things were taken for granted just weeks ago. We thought of fast food and convenience stores as being there and always being stocked and open. Now we know different.
The best thing that I feel is coming out of all this is the realization of the family unit being ‘broken’ and malfunctioning. Families are now spending more time together and parents are being responsible for part of the teaching process of their children. So many times, in general, we relied on the public/private school systems to ‘teach’ everything to our children. How did I learn about life in general? A lot of it was through the other children at school. Of course, I went home and asked my parents if what I heard was true. But, my relationship with my parents was always one of being open and there for me whenever I needed them. Dad was Navy and we moved a lot in the 20 plus years he was dedicated to service, but never was he not open to talking to me through letters, postcards and telephone calls. My parents are a great example of parenting. They have raised three generations of children and one is Autistic.
Speaking of communications – today we have so much more than when I was growing up. My generation recalls the hours of being on the phone, laying on the floor with feet up on the wall and talking of everything. No video phones, no iPads, no Internet – just the voice on the phone and riding bikes or walking everywhere to meet up with friends and do things. Today, with the Internet, ieverything and video conferencing, seeing people has taken on a different meaning. Face-Time and Skype are two of the better things that have happened. Being able to talk and see not only local people, but people half a world away. Even the armed services (Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines, Air Force, etc.) have the capability to talk to their families no matter where they are. I recall the times that Dad wrote letters to us and we looked forward to getting them because they were the only contact he could have with us. Phone calls were rare, but we savored every second we could hear his voice. Now, with the video availability, it’s almost as if they are only down the street instead of thousands of miles away in a foreign land.
Mentioning foreign lands – I think we need to rethink whose to blame for this pandemic. Just because it started in China doesn’t mean that they are the problem or the people to blame. We are all so fast to assign blame. This is something that we need to stop. Think globally for a minute. This pandemic spread rapidly and that should prove to you how small a planet we are. If something like a virus can overtake the world in a matter of months – doesn’t that mean we should start thinking of the entire world as our neighborhood? With today’s technology, travel abilities and communications we should give ourselves a good spanking for not paying attention. It’s about time we started taking down cultural borders and started helping each other to overcome problems as a good neighbor would help someone they live next door to. Gene Roddenberry had a great idea with Star Trek, but we’re not there quite yet. I do believe we need to start looking at that possibility though.
I appreciate your time in reading this. I guess I needed to rant and tell someone my viewpoint.
As Douglas Adams said so succinctly:
Don’t Panic!
My love and hugs go out to everyone. Be safe and love each other.