The Continuing Crisis
It's been seven months since the first quarantines were imposed for COVID-19, and not only have things gotten worse, the Orange Alert in the White House has done little about it. In fact, he has lied about how bad the virus really is, calling it a hoax; withheld supplies and funding from hard-hit states, saying (erroneously) that it wasn't the federal government's job to buy them protective equipment and ventilators; ignored his medical experts and pooh-poohed their conclusions; advised the use of dangerous drugs and home remedies as treatment for COVID; and finally, as late as this month, responded to a question about the high death toll (165,000) as of this writing) by saying, "It is what it is." How this man has remained in office for four years mystifies me more than ever.
Meanwhile, people are out of work and running out of money, whether they had any savings or not. Many are behind on bills and on the brink of eviction, and with unemployment at record highs - we haven't seen it this bad since the Great Depression - it doesn't look like things will get better very soon.
And still, Congress is dragging its feet on whether to pass a new help package, because - no surprise - the GOP believes that giving poor unemployed people more money will make them lazy and unwilling to work once things do improve.
But they were perfectly willing to bail out the airline and cruise industries, to the tune of billions of dollars; and of course the military budget is as bloated as ever...but poor people? Why, they should stop being such layabouts and take responsibility for themselves!
Needless to say, all this sucks. But we Americans are tough, and the fact that so many of us are pulling together on our own to try to improve our lot gives me real hope for the future....
Who Is That Masked Person?...Why, It's All Of Us!
Since it's very hard to get a COVID test unless you're suspected of having it, one of the easiest ways to keep from inadvertently spreading the virus to others is to wear a mask. It doesn't even have to be a surgical one; so long as it's three layers of cloth, it will keep your possibly pathogenic emissions to yourself.
Which is why many businesses, along with all doctor's and dentist's offices, have begun requiring that you wear one while you are inside.
Recently, my county, lacking science-based leadership from our state's Republican governor, set up its own mask mandate. County-wide, you were required to wear a mask inside any restaurant, store, or medical facility. At first, it was only for a month...but when our curve flattened by half, they extended the mandate for another month.
Mind you, this met with resistance from the Trumpster crowd, as well as the cranky people who swear up and down that it's all media hype.
The masks are too hot, they say, or hard to breathe through, or it's a pain to carry one everywhere...excuses abound. And yes, all these things are true. But doing the right thing even when it's hard and inconvenient is part of being an adult! And when it's something that will help your whole community, refusing to take this simple precaution is downright criminal. (One of these alt-right wags at my workplace joked that he shouldn't have to wear a mask because he was diagnosed with CS...and don't ask what it is, because medical conditions are personal! The initials turned out to mean "Common Sense." Sorry, no: common sense is when you listen to the scientists and doctors and then do what they tell you.)
One of our neighboring counties decided to follow our example. Unfortunately, their population is even more cranky than ours: they're actually suing the county health department for "infringement of rights." I don't know about anyone else, but it seems to me that another person's "rights" end where my health and safety begin. I mean, it's against the law to urinate or defecate in a public place. Why? Because human waste is a health hazard to other humans! And why take the chance when there are public toilets you can use? Same with masks--most places will give you a disposable one for free if you don't have one or left yours on the kitchen counter at home!
So c'mon, folks...wear the mask. Either that, or call ahead and get your groceries, fast-food meal, or hardware brought out to your car. Which brings us to....
The Curbside Culture
Businesses have been remarkably adaptive during this unhappy time; one of the ways they've coped with COVID has been to offer curbside service. This has been done with restaurant food, groceries, veterinary supplies, clothing, and even hardware! Our store offers this option, particularly to elderly folks who need stuff but don't feel comfortable going among other people (masked or not). Under special circumstances, we'll even deliver. In fact, we've stayed open through the entire quarantine period, since farmers still have to feed their livestock, plumbers still have to patch up leaky pipes, and electricians still have to rewire stuff. One happy result of our dedication is that more people have discovered that we're a pretty damn good local business, and so we've had the opportunity to actually expand our reach beyond our normal clientele!
Another local business, a small restaurant run by a friend of mine, had to close during quarantine...but she knuckled down and made arrangements with the city government to designate a couple of her front parking spaces as "pick-up" points, since her place didn't have its own parking lot. Having done that, she was able to offer not only curbside service, but also actual delivery to homes, although she had to charge a rather high fee for the latter service. Her loyal customers, however, paid gladly, and when the curbside business grew faster than the deliveries, they were okay with curbside only (delivery could still be arranged if the customer was in self-quarantine).
In some cases, curbside pickup has become so popular that I won't be at all surprised if it continues long after we're all vaccinated and herd-immune, because it's so convenient!
Wash. Your. Hands!!!
Here's a little secret:
Janitors know what you do in the bathroom...and what you don't do.
Especially when a restroom has power-flush toilets and auto-dispensers for paper towels.
So if you go into the restroom, and after a few silent minutes you come out again, we know that you a) did not flush the toilet and b) didn't wash your hands...all because of the sounds you didn't make! And lest you think that's creepy, be aware that those power-flushes and dispenser motors are pretty loud; I can hear ours from a couple of aisles away. If I'm in the area and fail to hear the important sounds of flushing, water running, and towels dispensing, I will drop whatever I was doing, grab my cleaning supplies, and give that restroom a thorough going-over once the customer has left...whether I was just in there five minutes ago or the next cleaning round is due.
Why? Because unflushed toilets and unwashed hands are also carriers of COVID!
(Flushing a toilet with the lid up also spreads the virus, BTW...we already knew that particulates fly upward into the air every time a toilet is flushed. That doesn't mean you shouldn't flush--just close the lid first.)
For some weird reason, pandemic or no pandemic, there is a large segment of our population who feel they don't need to wash their hands, or that all they need do is wet their hands briefly and shake-dry them.
But make no mistake: if you have been using the toilet for any reason, you need to wash your hands. With soap. Scrubbing thoroughly for 20 seconds. Drying hands completely before leaving the room, and do feel free to use the towel to grab the door handle. Because even without COVID, your unwashed hands can spread disease to whatever--and whomever--you touch! Even if it didn't, the idea of shaking your hand after you've spent a hot minute holding on to a part of your anatomy that normally gets all hot and sweaty under your clothes...ew. Seriously, dude...if you took off your shoes and rubbed your feet, then tried to shake my hand, I'd feel exactly the same way. And ladies...you just spent a hot minute wiping that region. So for heaven's sake, everybody...wash your hands before leaving the restroom!
Keeping Our Distance...
The third point of the COVID-prevention triangle is commonly called social distancing. This means that you keep six feet apart from other people whenever possible, in order to reduce the possibility of either unknowingly spreading the virus or of catching it from someone else (since it's mainly spread by airborne particles).
It's astonishing how fast the "six feet apart" rule has become the new normal; stores have marks on the floor in their check-out lanes to help you comply, and for the most part (except for the Trumpy Grumpies) everyone does. Even on my town's narrow sidewalks, people veer to either side to pass each other--it's like a choreographed dance move!
Churches--at least mine--have also instituted social distancing and limited occupancy in the sanctuary, as well as requiring masks. When the weather cooperates, we hold services outside, under a big tree; you bring your own lawn chair or blanket and sit six feet apart. Whenever there's Communion, the distributors are masked and gloved, and for the first time ever, we're using those disposable plastic individual cups rather than the heavy glass ones.
This is a Lutheran church, mind you--if you ask how many Lutherans it takes to change a light bulb, the answer is, "None, because Lutherans never change!" To which I would add that to a Lutheran, the only proper definition of the word "change" is a noun that describes the loose coinage she might find in her car's cup holders. But we're not stupid; we respect the medical field, and if taking these measures is the only way we can offer Word and Sacrament safely to our people, we'll do it. (We're sure God approves.)
Now that the restaurants have reopened, owners and managers have had to compensate for social distancing by spreading out their seating, limiting the number of customers who can be inside, or both. Some places have taken a cue from medical facilities by taking your temperature with one of those head-zapping thermometers before you're allowed to enter. All to try to keep us a little safer while still allowing us to have a good time.
Social distancing has even made it into country music; a guy named Luke Combs wrote a song called "Six Feet Apart" about how we're living through the pandemic, and as far as I can tell, he's not being sarcastic or mean--just looking forward to the day when we can just hug each other, squeeze an entire family into one corner booth, and play in front of real crowds (and be part of those crowds).
Speed that day, Luke. From your mouth to God's ears....
They're People, Not Statistics!
People have said some dumb things to me during this outbreak. I've already repeated a few of them. But the all-time dumbest, most heartless thing anyone's ever said about COVID was, "The virus is no big deal; it's got a 99.4% survival rate."
Now, follow me here. When experts throw out this number, they do not mean that each person has a 99.4% chance of surviving the virus; that percentage refers to the population. In other words, 99.4% of the people infected with COVID will survive.
That does sound good...but if the entire population of the USA catches the virus--331 million and change by 2020 UN estimates--that 0.6% who die amounts to...yikes. How about 1,986,000 dead? That's a lot. That's the population of my town times 85,000. It's roughly the combined populations of San Diego and Sacramento. It would clear out both the Dakotas like pathogenic Round-Up, with enough left to pretty much decimate Wyoming!
But let's be real. These are people. They're mothers and fathers, children and grandchildren, friends and neighbors, spouses and partners. Those who die will be teachers, engineers, cashiers, doctors, nurses, cooks, fire fighters, EMTs..."the people in your neighborhood," as that happy little Sesame Street song goes. Those people, and many others like them, will go away and never return, if COVID is allowed to run amok as it has up to now.
Wake Up!
It is time to use whatever medium of communication best suits you to contact your lawmakers--local, state, and federal--and tell them to get back to those legislative chambers and start solving this mess. You might have different ideas about what to do, or how to do it...but doing nothing will help no one at all. I think the pathway is pretty clear: mass testing and contact tracing, funding for vaccine research (with a guarantee of free distribution to the public--the virus won't go away if we're not all vaccinated), monetary relief for families hit hardest by shutdowns and lost employment, and relief for small businesses (not big corporations and super-wealthy individuals).
Like I said, you might not agree. Still, we have to talk about it, and then take action.
But we'd better do it fast...before we lose the Dakotas.
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