Posted by:
Nightingale
(
)
Date: April 28, 2020 05:05PM
I don't understand what you are referring to, warrior. I must have missed something.
Re the pushback against closing down in the face of an unknown, highly virulent, highly transmissible new virus on the loose throughout the world, I get that the situation was sudden, shocking and challenging in myriad ways for most people everywhere.
It's going to turn out to be a once-in-a-lifetime, or generation, or century, challenge in which each of us has to sacrifice, perhaps on a significant scale, for the benefit of everyone else; iow, self-sacrifice for others we will never meet and who will never know us or the effects on us of the new realities of our lives at this moment and perhaps forever.
I could give a thousand reasons why it should be this way, as the medical and scientific experts are inching their way through a minefield and trying to protect everyone until they make it out safely. But I understand the frustrations of people who face dire consequences from the effects of a global shutdown.
My own work dried up without warning from one day to the next in early March. That definitely got my attention. I immediately went out to stock up on non-perishable food and cleaning products and already, overnight, there were significant shortages of all items on my list. That was scary. How did everyone else know already, before I had noticed, that they should swoop in and buy up all the soap and sanitizer, tissues and toilet paper, Lysol and Listerine and etc. And since when, in my lifetime, had dairy products and fruit and veg grown or produced right in my own Fraser Valley been rationed or worse, unavailable? And who knew restaurants would close down, and even takeout joints, decimating 50% of my entire meal plans each week? Til then, my nightmare had been having to eat meals out of cans. My new nightmare is not being able to find cans to eat out of.
But still. I appreciate people following distancing guidelines as well as other restrictions set out by experts who are trying to steer us through this global pandemic with as much safety as possible for the largest number. I am well aware of the challenges of parents with young kids who are missing school, older children who will likely miss grad, those who can't work and those who put their own safety at risk to continue helping others. I can accept that until we know the full extent of what is occurring the lockdowns have been the quickest most comprehensive way to try and keep casualties to a minimum. A million known cases (in the USA) sounds astronomical. Yet who knows how much higher the figure would climb without the precautions so far.
One of my sisters and one of my brothers work in high-risk environments. My sister was in fairly close proximity to a confirmed case over the weekend. Now we will have to "socially distance" for weeks and she has been a significant source of support for me since our mom passed away and I have been so sad. She and I used to meet up for tea on the weekends but since that is no longer possible we at least did our weekly grocery shop together. Looks like I won't be doing that for a while after this foreseeable yet discouraging development.
I'm sorry for everyone who has been affected in any way - those who have lost loved ones, those whose lives have been curtailed, the many who find themselves in dire economic straits, those who are alone, the ones who are scared, grieving, desperate.
Who ever said pandemics would be a walk in the park? Literally, this one isn't. All the parks are closed down, at least in my area. And the beaches. And even the medical clinics.
But, no worries. Liquor stores and THC/CBD dispensaries (legal in Canada) are at your service. It's a paradox.
2020: Love the number. So far, not crazy about how the year has been going.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/2020 05:23PM by Nightingale.