Uncharted Territory

We are sailing in uncharted territories aboard a global ship of intrepid explorers. Bravely we hoist the sails pushing through the roiling waves of poor leadership, devastating storms of economic disparity, and howling winds of fear. In the midst of these dire circumstances, we send the courageous souls scurrying up the mast searching for solid ground. A glimmer of hope is all we need and yet, we continue to glide through the muddy waters of disenchantment.

The stories are becoming grim. Our workers are being laid off in record numbers. The latest employment figures show 3.3 million filed for unemployment and they say; it is just the beginning. Can a bailout package (stimulus) support this flagging economy? Many economists are saying this two trillion dollar “bipartisan” deal is a drop in the bucket to what we will need in the coming months. Trump is repeating his rhetoric regarding sacrificing the elderly or at-risk individuals health in order to jump start the economy by April 12th. Republican supporters are jumping on the bandwagon and dividing this country into a morbid conversation about who should sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Every scientist refutes these claims by pointing to the fact the U.S. has now exceeded China in Coronavirus infections and our death rate is soaring. Globally we are over 550,000 infected and 25,262 deaths. 

While listening to a podcast yesterday, I learned about the Antonine Plague that began in 165 CE during Marcus Aurelius’ reign as emperor. He fought the plague for 15 years and never left Rome amidst an astronomical death rate and inability to control the carnage. No government, group of people, scientist, or doctor can ever completely defeat these invisible warriors. They will choose on their own whether or not a society will suffer their wrath and it is only those who keep a sound mind that will ultimately prevail through these challenges. These plagues and pandemics are part of our history as a human race and will be here long after I (we) pass away into oblivion. The lesson I am learning is that the religious fanatics, philosophical zealots, doomsayers, preppers, and bad leaders are all part of this universal repeating cycle.   

My day started with my first official Zoom meeting with my students at 9:00am. I have approximately 49 students in three classes and six logged on. Deep down I was slightly disappointed by the turnout but I’m sure there were reasons why most did not bother (maybe they were sleeping). The meeting lasted thirty minutes and from what I gathered, all of them were on lockdown. The rest of my day consisted of volunteering at my high school to pass out lunches. Upon my arrival, I met in the back-parking lot of the school cafeteria with the food preparation staff and was directed to hand out lunches to the vehicles. I stood next to a man named “Mark” who was in charge of handing out breakfast bags and on the other side of where I was stationed was an elderly woman who was handing out small cartons of milk. There was one rule to the assembly line which was, each car had to have a student inside in order to receive the food. If you had two students you received two bags each of food (two breakfast bags and two lunch bags) and two cartons of milk for every bag (two cartons for breakfast and two cartons for lunch). For an hour (11:00am to 12:00pm) we worked together and passed out over 400 meals to persons in our school district. It felt amazing to interact with each person, engage in small talk, and I was able to personally speak with several students through their car windows. At one point, there was a middle-aged male driver that stated he was self-quarantining because he may have the virus. The supervisor directed him to park away from everyone while she placed the food on a table approximately fifty yards away from the group. I observed he drove his car to the table after everyone had left the vicinity and picked up the food. I was mesmerized by the process and the precautions we were implementing to ensure there was limited to zero physical contact with any persons. After volunteering, I drove back to my house because there was nowhere else to go. I filled my day with vacuuming the interior of my car and my son’s car, made dinner (BBQ chicken, rice pilaf, and asparagus), and played Kings Corner with my wife while enjoying a couple of drinks. 

In global news, Japan recently announced they are postponing the summer Olympics for one year. The virus is continuing to devastate Italy and Spain while spreading into new countries, and Russia is now implementing stringent measures for containment by sealing their borders and cancelling all international flights.

Finally, I learned what the acronym “COVID-19” stands for. This was spurred by a racially motivated Facebook post which stated “COVID-19” stood for Chinese Originated Viral Infectious Disease-2019. The actual meaning was shared in a response to the post showing the correct meaning: Corona Virus Disease-2019. I NEVER EVER respond to Facebook posts but I decided to break my moratorium to thank the person who posted the correct version of the acronym. Later that day, the original person who posted the incorrect information sarcastically responded that he was joking and didn’t understand why he needed to be corrected. Fuck that guy-I defriended him.