One Year Ago, Today

I wrote this on my calendar one year ago today...

My daughter and I happen to work in the same building within the same organization.  We were sent home from work early on March 16th, 2020 for an undetermined length of time. 

I have been keeping a journal since this - the coronavirus started - widespread, here in the United States of America.  This is my entry from, exactly, one year ago today...  

“3/16/20

Disneyworld shut down last night due to the threat of the Corona virus. Today, there were 80 more cases diagnosed in New Jersey. The governor put in place a soft curfew of 8:00 pm for people to be home. The casinos in Atlantic City shut down at that time, too. Restaurants and bars are switching over to take out status and closing earlier. There are several closings—come to think of it tonight, at 8:21 pm, my supervisor texted our group saying that if we were, “non-essential” personnel, that we did not have to report to work tomorrow. So, in other words, my job has been postponed due to COVID-19.  My daughter and I are off until further notice. When we return is anyone’s guess.

This shutdown makes sense. There are those who feel otherwise, but they are wrong. The best way to contain this is to, “flatten the bell curve” and to practice social distancing (limiting one’s own movement and avoiding public spaces). The spread can be slowed but people must be open to making this happen. The universe has given us time off so that we do not contract and/or spread the virus. Who are we to argue with the universe?”

My daughter and I now work from home.  It is the same with my wife.  My wife is looking forward to returning to her routine and her office.  My daughter and I, however, are happy working from home.  But all that is a tale for another day - a different journal entry altogether.  

That journal, by the way, is now over 3,300 pages long.  A lot has happened in a year's time.  I thought that I would document it as best as I could.  You should know, Gentle Reader, that it is not all me and a lot of it is not fit for human consumption.  There are hundreds of pictures and articles - all sited mind you - and, of course, there is commentary and observation from yours truly.  An everyman's view of this time in history.  It has grown long but the work must continue.  It will continue until I feel that we have either placed COVID-19 behind us or we have adapted to a "new normal" where COVID-19 remains with us, but due to vaccines and personal responsibility it will be kept at bay.  Personally, I believe it will be the latter.  There is no magic bullet for the coronavirus.  I believe we will have to adapt.  When we do, I will call the journal complete.  

There are better days ahead.  The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.  We will get there.  

Until then, get vaccinated.  Wear a mask.  Wash your hands.  Practice social distancing.  Be good to each other.  Perhaps if most of us can do these simple, unselfish things, I will not have to write another 3,300 pages come this time next year?

Stay safe.

The First Step to Recovery

One of my closest friends posted on Facebook concerning it being Martin Luthor King Jr. Day, that we have major underlying problems with racism, and that the problem is worse than normal & has been emboldened these past four years.

He is not wrong on any of these points. The mob mentality of certain disappointing Venn diagrams of people I know has been eye opening. It is one of the reasons I have cut back as much as I have concerning Facebook – the people. Now that I have seen their true faces – the ones that they used to hide – I find I cannot tolerate them for extended periods of time. If their transgressions are too much they are banished and blocked, which is mutually beneficial I don’t miss them and they don’t miss me. Is this how echo chambers happen? Sure – but I am DONE with entertaining flat-out racists & radicles. If that means I’m in an echo chamber at least I know its not in theirs.

But, getting back to my friend’s post…

I used to think so much better of us. I thought that we were better than who we are as a people – as a nation. I thought that people were treated fairly no matter what shade of the rainbow their skin was. It turns out I was in a cocoon – a comfortable, white chrysalis – wearing my rose-colored goggles. I was wrong. I didn’t know any better. I grew up. I matured a bit and was able to see the cracks in everything around me & I began to question myself about those cracks & everything I took as indefatigable truth. The world is a much larger place than the one we are presented with as children or adolescents.

We have a MAJOR underlying problem of systemic injustice right here in the United States of America. COVID-19 exposed a great many of our most dirty secrets. Fears, superstition, racial injustice, hidden hatreds, civil rights, healthcare, science denying, selfishness, conspiracy zealots incapable of maintaining a baseline reality, domestic terrorists – yeah, this is America. Not all America – but the America that we are presenting to each other and to the world. When people do not feel as if they are in “control” they are susceptible to wrong thinking – susceptible to falling for opinions rather than thought; because, if anything, social media has taught us is that opinions are so much easier to have than thoughts. BUT there is hope. I truly believe that this is a time where we can do something we need to do as a society – recognize that we have problems – SERIOUS problems; because if we can recognize that there are problems – identify what they are – then we can do something about them and start to build a nation where we can TRULY say that we stand for “Liberty and justice for all”. That words such as, “We The People” stand for ALL people, because they must or they mean nothing. We need the courage of our convictions. Not the situational ethics that have suited us for years.

Things are changing – COVID-19 saw to that. Our dirty secrets are not secrets any longer. They have been laid bare. Since they are in the light let us work together to make them better, to fix them – all people of good will working together for not simply our own benefit but for the benefit of all. We are at a unique point in history where we can & must recognize these issues – our problems and do something positive to change them. We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our country, we owe it to the world, and most of all we owe it to the future – to our children. This was part of Martin Luthor King Jr.’s message, “There is nothing to keep us from remolding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood.” That is from his book, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” I’ve had enough chaos. It’s far past time we started truly building that community.

I Can't Wait for the Vaccine

Yes, I can’t wait for the vaccine. I’ll take either the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine or the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine – I can’t wait for that RNA to do it’s thing.  I feel this way for two reasons; 1., the obvious - this is the light at the end of the tunnel that will usher in our new normal.  And 2., protection against the non-science believing rubes who don't care about anything but illusions. 

I saw this out there on the internet...

I can't wait for the vaccine for it will protect me and mine from people like Stacey, here. I’m tired of having to depend on Stacey’s ability to grasp common sense or for the common health & welfare of others. She is lacking.  Stacey has proven herself a danger. The concept of other people and their needs escapes Stacey. You may want to brace yourself, Stacey, but it’s not all about you. It is because of the Stacey’s in this world that we – right here in the United States – have well over 300,000 DEAD due to COVID-19. 

Yes, Stacey – the vaccination will free me and mine from the likes of YOU. The stupid, the ignorant, and the evil – a trifecta of protection in a series of two shots, each 21 days apart. There are precious few moments in life when one can get a shot in the arm and be protected from the ineptitude of others. It will be refreshing - liberating really. 

I cannot wait. I cannot wait to embrace the light at the end of the tunnel. I know that the Staceys and Karens of this world may not take the vaccination. If it was only about them, which as we have previously established – it is not, BUT if it was only about them, I wouldn’t care. The trick is our actions, or our inactions affect others - we know this, this is beyond them.  Yes, the Stacey or Karen will refuse the vaccination, contract COVID, and take it to their parents, their friends, and their coworkers. They do not care since it is all about them – it always has been. People like us? We are background actors – non-player characters in Stacey’s or Karen’s world. Therefore, the onus is up to us to outthink and/or outmaneuver the Staceys and the Karens. I can only hope that those around them knows them for what they truly are – the stupid, the ignorant, and/or the evil and they get vaccinated as soon as possible so that they too will be protected against their Staceys and Karens in our selfish, unkind, unenlightened world.

Again, how many times in history can we point at where a vaccination can not only save lives but offer protection against indiscriminate killers - spreaders like the Staceys & Karens?

Not too many. When it becomes available, get vaccinated.

Until such times, wear a mask, wash your hands, and maintain social distance. We will never know how many lives have been saved by these simple measures. Conversely, we will never know how many lives were lost because such measures were ignored.

Do your part and, when you can, get vaccinated.

Adventures In Shopping, Part II

My wife and I ventured out for supplies.  We visited a few different places, all the while, masked and gloved.  Whilst we were out, I took some pictures of what life is like out there now during quarantine.  We started by filling up our tank at BJs.  Both the gas station attendant and I were masked and gloved.  We dropped off some books that we were getting rid of at the Better World Books bin next to the Regal Theater in Vineland and, in an empty parking lot, I took a picture of the marquee.

The marque reads, “CLOSED FOR NOW – STAY TUNED”, with the “Y” in ‘stay’ hanging askew.  It will be interesting to see how theaters, which were struggling before the appearance of COVID-19, will fare in the new normal on the other side of this. 

Our journey of re-supplying then took us to Taco Bell, which is drive through or delivery only now.  We chose Taco Bell because, to date, they are the chain who has best adapted to life in quarantine. 

They take your order, you drive up to the window, the gloved and masked server holds out the debit card reader, the customer inserts or swipes their card so no there is no physical contact with Taco Bell and the customer at all.  The card reader goes away, and the Taco Bell employee returns with your order inside a plastic receptacle—plastic box—drink holder, which the customer grabs, and takes away.  This is the most efficient, sanitary method of delivery that I have seen put in play in the world of drive-through cuisine.  It beats Wendy’s & McDonald's gloved hands down.  We made certain to thank the Taco Bell worker for being there.

After chowing down on our Taco Bell in a parking lot, we headed over to Aldi.  There was a line of people waiting to get into the store that stretched down the side of the building.

“I don’t know, should we just go to Shoprite?” I asked my wife.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Should we be taking pictures of people?  Someone’s going to kick your ass.”

“No, they’re not,” I said. “They’d have to get out of line.”

As it turns out, that ALDI line was the line that we got into next.

Going into the store, ALDI does all they can to reduce transmission of COVID-19.  There is a masked and gloved employee up front who asks you if you need a cart or not.  If you do then, with Lysol, she wipes down the handle and the two plastic flaps that are designed for baby’s butts and rolls it towards you for use.  The employee then counts who enters and who leaves, thus balancing the number of people who are in the store at one time. 

After our trip to ALDI, we had a few items that we needed so we visited our Shoprite.  My wife went after the list and I waited in a small, socially distanced line (6-feet away between customers) for my turn and when it was my turn, I asked to purchase two lottery tickets, which I did so with quarters left from laundry day.  One could make a compelling argument that I am throwing good quarters away by playing the lottery.  That it is a hidden tax and that the odds are astronomically against winning.  One would be correct on all these points.  I cannot argue one of them.  My only defense against such points is to offer up Doctor Schrödinger and his cat.  COVID-19 has changed the lottery, as well.  The Powerball has cut its payout in half, since not as many people are playing these days.  There are more important matters at hand.  Yet, there I was.  It’s more like Schrödinger’s lottery.

“Thank you for being here.” I told the lady behind the counter.  We have seen each other before, but we have never been properly introduced, so we don’t know each other’s names.  We know each other because we are part of the same community, whether we are in a pandemic or not.  “You are holding together ‘normalcy’, whatever that was.” I said.

She smiled and asked, “How are you doing during all this?”

“Oh, fine, I suppose.  How about you?”

“Well…I miss my family.” She said.  Immediately, I felt horrible for asking the question.  At least in some way work is a respite for this woman for the simple reason she is busy helping others and keeping everything afloat.  She’s so busy at it that she has time to not think about the family that she can’t see due to the self-quarantine rules.  She looked away, suddenly reminded.  I am an ass.

“Much love.” I said to her putting my hands together and bowing—hoping against hope that she gets that chance to see her family soon.  “…Thank you.” 

Thank you, indeed.  If it weren’t for her and people like her—like all of the people that we had social distanced, gloved, and masked contact with today—everything shuts down.  Seriously.  Essential workers have been carrying the early birth-pangs of whatever the new normal is going to look like on their shoulders while trying to maintain what the old normal was.  They put everything on the line to keep things moving forward.  We owe a debt to the essential worker.  They have kept the world going just by showing up to work.  Spoilers—they always have, even without the threat of COVID-19. 

There will be changes ahead.  Major changes.  Sweeping social and economic ones and that’s okay.  Change is how progress is made.  I hope that on the other side of this once the quarantine is lifted and the vaccination is discovered that the reconciliation between the old world—what was and the new world—what it will be, is more enlightened.  There is historical evidence to suggest that this may be the case.  After the black plague came the renaissance—200 plus years of reason, science, thinking, art, and creativity that ushered in the modern era.  After COVID-19?  We are due for an age of enlightenment.  An age where essential workers make a fair wage, where healthcare is no longer a business, where scientists and experts are heeded, where reason is tempered with kindness, where hope for a better tomorrow is feasible for ALL regardless of circumstance, where we shift our priorities from ourselves to others.  Can you imagine such a future?  A future that we would be proud to hand over to our children.  What a future this New Renaissance would be.  I hope I live to see it all come to pass.    

Until such time, stay home, stay safe, stay healthy. 

The curve is flattening so keep on keeping on.   

Adventures in Shopping, Part I

The following is my 3/25/20, entry in my COVID-19 journal.  I’ve been keeping it since the beginning.  I thought that this one was fit for human consumption…

3/25/20

Dan and I went out to Shoprite to replenish some supplies.  Dan wore a Pokémon bandana as a facemask.  It was not out of fashion; nearly half of the other shoppers were wearing masks of some sort.  There were plenty of latex gloves in use, too.  Shoprite has remained a beacon of hope in the community.  Seriously.  All the grocery and convenience stores that have stayed open and continue to operate are.  After all, if the stores are open then things can’t be all bad—right?  Right. 

Shoprite has made some changes.  There are signs that say to maintain 6 feet distance in the front of the store.  They have changed their hours to 7:00 am – 9:00 pm.  Disinfectant is being used by cashiers and, the young lady who checked us out spray cleaned the conveyor belt and was wiping it down as she beckoned us into her lane.  There are plexiglass barriers between the cashier and customer now.  It is that way for all points of purchase—except for self-checkout.

“Did you find everything you were after?” she asked.

“More or less, I’d say.” I said, looking at the newly installed force fields.  “These are a good idea.” I said.

“Yes, although maybe they could be a little bigger.” She replied.  I took a look and, yes, she’s right, maybe they could.  They were erected at the place where the customer is closest to the cashier and not at the card-pad.  “How have you been making out in all this?” she asked us.

“Oh, we’ve been okay. How about you?”

“I’m the one who does the shopping for my grandmother and me.” She said. “I get home, see to things, and then go get what she needs—if we don’t have it already.”

“That’s very good of you.” I said.  She’s a good kid, doing the best she can presented with the circumstances as they are.

“I’ve seen some things here,” she stated. “I had a woman throw chicken at me.”

“That’s horrible!” Dan exclaimed.

“Yeah. I told her that Shoprite had a “one package per person” limit on certain items—including chicken.  She got so mad that she threw it at me.”

“Times like these bring out the best and the worst in people.” I said.  “That’s assault.”

“That’s true.  It’s why there are security guards roaming the store now.”

“Really?” Dan asked.

“Oh, yeah.” She said.

“They must be good,” I volunteered, “I never even saw them.”  For some reason or another, I was thinking that stealth may be beneficial at times as a member of a peacekeeping security force.  …And then it hit me how much things have changed in such a short amount of time.  Two weeks ago, these factors—the 6-foot rule, the masks, the barriers, the security guards—all of it, was to be found in science fiction and not in the ‘real world’, whatever that is.  It hit me that this was the new normal and would be for some time. 

We bid each other the best and went on our way.  She’s a good kid and, most certainly, deserves better than being attacked by a panic-stricken woman who can’t have two trays of chicken because there are other people in the world besides her.

“Thank you for all that you’re doing.” Dan said as we took our leave from her. “Stay safe.”

“You, too.” She said as we left.

So, young lady who checked us out at Shoprite this morning, thank you.  And, once again, to all the workers who are serving their communities at this time, THANK YOU.  You are not and never have been, “just a cashier”, you are a reminder of the normal that was and may be again.  You are hope and there is no price tag on that. 

To my fellow customers, remember, you/we are not the only ships out on the ocean.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and we can get there together—in one piece—if we think of others as we are thinking (and shopping) for ourselves. 

Let’s be good to each other out there.  A little kindness, some reason, and social distancing will help us through to the other side of this pandemic.    

So, thank you to the common everyday people who have been deemed essential—the woman who checks you out at the grocery or convenience store, the medical staff—the nurses and doctors doing everything they can to keep people healthy, EMS workers, the people keeping the electricity going—the linemen and everyone else who stands behind them keeping the juice flowing, the fire and police, the garbage collectors, all the people that we don’t see and take for granted for the mere fact that we don’t see them.  Everyday life is ‘normal’ because of what they do.  “Normal” is a relative term, these days.  Each of those listed here have become heroes just by showing up to work.  Society works because they do.  There is NOTHING common about the common man, there never has been.

Your efforts have not gone unnoticed.

Thank you, one and all.

Stay safe, stay healthy.