At the start, it seemed simple enough…there was a disease that was seemingly ravaging the 3rd World…but hey that’s what we expect. Diseases ravage “lesser countries” and we shake our collective heads about it and say to ourselves: “if only they could be more like us…”
As my mother used to say: “God don’t like ugly.”
Welcome to 2020: The year when COVID is declared the “Word of the Year” by Merriam-Webster.
There has been mention of various infections over the last half century. In a past life, I wrote a release on the effort to make the public aware of King County’s monitoring of the response to the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus.
That was in 2009.
That release mentioned King County was following the guidelines adopted as part of King County’s Pandemic Flu Preparedness Plan.
The Pandemic Flu Preparedness Plan was adopted by the King County Council in 2007.
Understand, even when you’re prepared, and King County has been at the forefront of responding to the pandemic, bad things can happen.
And let’s be honest—as a whole, this country wasn’t prepared for this. So now we’re paying the price.
Fingers can be pointed in a lot of directions, (and most of those fingers sure as hell better be pointed toward the big building on Pennsylvania Ave in D.C.), but we carry some of the responsibility as well.
How many of us saw the first stories of COVID-19 and thought “OK a new strain of flu, I’ll just ride it out.” Especially since it was half a world away.
When we saw the first deaths, who thought: “that’s OK, that’s in another part of the state (or country), it won’t touch me…”
It really didn’t seem real.
When did it become real?
It became real to me when I was told to stay at home and not go into my office, unless I really needed to come in.
When did it become reality?
–When my wife’s boss told her that she had tested positive.
–When 2200 miles away, my daughter is under a stay at home order in Nashville—while the rest of the state of Tennessee cavalierly continues to go about its business in the belief that COVID-19 appears to only impact “Blue States”
–When a sister (who is a medical assistant) and my niece (who is a manager at an office equipment company) were told they were “essential personnel” and had to continue going out during this pandemic.
That’s when reality sank in.
My wife and I have been under self-quarantine since St. Patrick’s Day. While we have been going out for walks and drives (house to car to road to house) we have stayed indoors.
Last week, the handle on our toilet broke, and I had to debate if I was putting people at risk if I went to the hardware store to pick up a new handle. I did go, but I spent the rest of the afternoon wondering if I was in danger because of the items I touched, and the people I passed by. I guess the bigger question should have been: because of my actions and the potential that I have been exposed, was I endangering the lives of the people in the store?
That is our current reality.
A reality that involves:
–Models that project potentially 100,000 people dying during this pandemic,
–And the occupant of the house on Pennsylvania Ave finally admitting the pandemic could go into the summer and perhaps the idea of celebrating the Resurrection by potentially putting millions at risk might not be a good idea.
Sitting here at home and I can’t help but think of Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death”
Many here in this country are guilty of the crime committed by Prince Prospero:
Indifference and arrogance.
If you think that’s harsh, look up River Church in Tampa, Florida on Google.
The pastor of this church, like Prospero, believes himself rich enough and powerful enough to ignore what is taking place outside of the walls of his castle, leaving those who he never considered equal even before the plague, to fend for themselves.
If you don’t remember the end of the story, Prospero discovers too late that those he is trying to ignore and forget have a way of finding entrance to the most impregnable of bastions.
This has been a little heavier that what I’ve posted in the past, but I’ve never had to post in the middle of quarantine either.
Stay safe and stay aware. Listen to the professionals. Be careful.
The people who love you aren’t ready for you to die.
Until Next Time.
Thoughts From A Short Round Black Man 