I’m writing this on the second Friday of teleworking. I may or may not get it posted today.
NARRATOR: He posted it today.
Here we are, not quite sure what news to believe or not believe. Face it, the media is doing their best to whip us into hysteria and the politicians in DC (either side, quite frankly) aren’t really helping.
I’m unfollowing or snoozing a LOT of people on Facebook. If your sole purpose there is to post “Orange Man Bad” crap and rejoice in the fact that this might damage Donald Trump’s reelection chances, then I really don’t have time for your bullshit.
Sorry. Not sorry.
Don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of people exploiting it on both sides.
We have never been through anything like this. Not either of the World Wars, not even the Spanish Influenza pandemic.
Perhaps because, while we’re socially distanced, we’re still connected through the Internet. That is both good and bad.
Sure, we can keep up with people and share funny videos and memes. And there are wonderful things happening like virtual choirs and pop-up theater.
But it’s like we learned nothing from the copy-this-so-you’ll-see-more-than-26-friends-in-your-Facebook-feed crap.
NARRATOR: THAT NEVER WORKED.
I see people shutting off the President’s briefings, snarking about them, and then totally misrepresenting what he said.
Listen to him or not. Like him or not. But the lies and half-truths are spreading faster than the virus.
All I’m saying is that, if you’re going to disagree with him, know your facts and listen to what he really says.
There’s plenty to disagree with and shake your head over.
Save the facepalms until we’ve been cleared to touch our faces again.
But, enough of that. How are you dealing with this?
I know a lot of people who are not able to self-quarantine. They have to get out and do their job, like my son who is a barista. Or like the medical workers. Or the trash collectors. Or the ABC store workers.
I know, right?
Let’s hope we’re slowing the spread. Let’s hope we’re flattening the curve.
I’d love for us to be back to work and life as normal as soon as possible. Let’s just hope that when we are, we’re better people because of this.
For me, I’m endeavoring to use this time to be productive. I’m still teleworking so there’s that commitment.
But I’m trying to force myself to create, to do art, to do writing, and to maybe finally clean the home office out.
I started that project yesterday by clearing off my “art” desk. And I continued this morning by starting to take the houseplants outside. It’s time.
I know this is hard for everyone. We can’t visit. We can’t hang out.
But we can email, text, and yes, even call.
Do that. We’ll get through this.
Yes, it’s hard.
But, take a deep breath and remember how resilient we humans are.
Face it, especially here in the USA, we don’t really face adversity.
We let our day be ruined when Wendy’s gets our drive-thru order wrong.
We let our day be ruined when someone cuts us off in traffic.
We let our day be ruined when our show is pre-empted for a news conference.
Maybe, just maybe, this whole experience will cause us to stop and think about the things, and the people, that really matter.
Maybe we’ll see that some of the things we’re missing right now weren’t really that important after all.
As someone who leans conservative, I have hopes that maybe we’ll see what parts of government aren’t really essential.
No real expectations in that regard, but I can dream. I have the time.
What I want most is to make the most of this time. To be as productive as I can.
To maybe get to all of those projects I whine about not having time to do.
Or maybe to realize that they weren’t getting done because I never wanted to do them in the first place.
There’s no denying that this is a difficult time. In addition to the fear of the virus, the fear of economic stress (and disaster), we’re going to see a lot of folks just sink into depression.
We need to fight this. Together. Alone.
Reach out where you can. Read the undercurrents of those Facebook posts. Sometimes they’re a cry for help.
Be kind. Help where you can. Tip generously.
And maybe, just maybe, dial back the snark.