Nothing Travels Faster than Bad News

"Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the exception of bad news 

which obeys its own special laws."  (Douglas Adams) 

Isn't that just how life has felt for the last few weeks?  If you deal in reality rather than wishful thinking, the bad news would have already been with us for a few months, and it’s going to be bad news for some unforeseen time.  However, you can't change the past no matter how hard you try to turn back time.  Everyone is positive they know who is responsible for the pickle we are in, so I won't infuriate you or allow you to commiserate by stating who I think should be held accountable.

What really matters is how do we go forward?   How should that be?

I've been trying to write this blog for four days.  Each day brings new information.  The 20 somethings who are acting like they are immune or will just get the 'sniffles'?  Well, new data says they are going to be occupying a significant number of our scarce hospital beds, and their cavalier attitude is going to result in exponentially spreading the virus.  Seniors are going to become more isolated, and that isolation will take its emotional and mental toll.  Stresses between family members is magnified.  If we are really trying to be good citizens, we are staying home.  There is certainly going to be more reliance on the internet and the connections between people it can facilitate -both good and bad.  

Will this pandemic crisis work lasting changes in our everyday lives when it subsides?  That always happens with every crisis.  Think about the changes in air travel as a result of 9/11.   Not all changes have to be bad or unpleasant.  Perhaps telecommuting can really take hold and give families more flexibility as to where they live.   

What is the most difficult thing happening to you personally right at this moment?  For me, it's physical - my entire body hurts, and it has nothing to do with the coronavirus.  Yesterday, I was appalled to discover I walked over 10,000 steps.  My feet hurt, my legs ache, and my shoulders are adjusting to carrying a light backpack.  Otherwise, it's nice to be outside when the weather isn't frigid or swelteringly hot. 

As you all know, I'm living in NYC which is trying to flatten the coronavirus curve by taking drastic measures.  I've been quite surprised how calm New Yorkers seem to be.  Most seem to be initially taking 'social distancing' seriously.  Drake and I are walking back and forth between our house and C's house - thus my 8 - 10,000 steps a day.  His parents are working on-line at our house while we are keeping C at his house.  It's a 2 mile round trip.  Until we get a 'shelter in place' edict, this is our plan.

There's already lots of 'delivery' here.  Most people here shop that way for almost everything.  I suspect the delivery services already in place will help us over the crunch.  Buses are almost empty.  I haven't braved the subway or the bus since this started because there's no place to go.  No school, no movies, no bars, no restaurants, no museums, no performances, and worst of all for the NYC economy:  No tourists.  

That's where NYC is going to really feel the pinch.  Tourism is a huge industry here.  All the 19th century factories have been converted to white collar business space or living space.  We don't 'make' anything in New York.  We handle money and credit for the rest of the country, and we show off our entertainment industry, our cultural industry, and our landmarks.  As of today thousands of people have been fired.  These people work in businesses who are doing no business.  So many, in fact, the NYC Unemployment website started crashing yesterday. 

What's so extremely striking is how quiet it is in Brooklyn.  There's little or no commerce happening.  Outside C's apartment there's always an unending stream of cars, school buses, delivery trucks, fire trucks, ambulances, and construction vehicles.  They honk and they play loud music, and there's always just basic traffic noise.   The day after the drastic closures took effect, the lack of traffic is really noticeable.  Drake estimates it's down 80%.   The silence of the city is eerie.  I’ve also noticed the streets seem cleaner.  There’s less litter.

There are a few people like us out on the streets walking.  New Yorkers have never been shy about using their legs, and this crisis is going to get everyone in even better shape.  People seem to be choosing their own foot power whenever possible. We took C for a walk today and the few people out gave us a wide berth

Another good thing is even though the schools are closed for instruction, the cafeterias are remaining open for the normal breakfast/lunch meals.  The elementary school we walk by was open today from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm.  It's a 'grab and go' situation, and the crossing guards are on duty.  Word has been slow to get out to the poorer communities, and I also think as the end of the month approaches more kids will appear for food.  During the few months we were food insecure, the last weekend of the month sure seemed like a good weekend to go visit my parents.  I suspect middle schoolers are going to have to be chased out of school since they are going to miss their peer groups intensely.  New York public schools are going to be starting on-line instruction next week.

I think the necessity of public school students having access to computers/internet at home is going to be something which comes out of this emergency.  It's going to be obvious big heavy textbooks should be a thing of the past, and every public school student needs an inexpensive laptop.  Teacher 'lessons' should be videoed so they can be directly accessed by students from home.  How much easier would homework time be if you could review what the teacher taught that day?   (I advocated for this approximately 20 years  ago, and I always met with a brick wall and a chorus of 'we can't do that'.)  I think the time has come for teachers to rethink their instruction techniques.  I think it's time for lessons to be less about facts and more about collaboration and how to think. 

Another outcome of this pandemic is we are finally going to have to face up to the inadequacies of our health care system.  Granted, if we can't flatten the curve of the number of coronavirus cases, then any healthcare system would be overwhelmed.  That said, we've been robbing peter to pay paul in every hospital.  Corners have been cut.  Expenditures have been cut to the bone and nothing is stockpiled.  If we can't flatten the curve, one health care professional I personally know related to me the number of ventilators at his hospital is inadequate for the probable need.  There will be rationing as well as turning people away who arrive for treatment.  He’s fatalisticly certain he’s going to contract the virus because he can't count on the type of protective gear he needs during treatment and care of patients.  May I cynically suggest it's not going to be the 1% who are denied treatment.  

When this crisis passes, needed changes in the healthcare system will become obvious.   The question is will we be able to assess and make changes.  It's my opinion we will finally have to admit we have a tiered healthcare system which is very unfair, poorly administered, and being driven by insurance companies whose only real concern is the bottom line.  If we want true healthcare which is more equitable and smarter, we should listen to the people on the front lines of  treatment and caregiving rather than to the insurance companies, the bean counters, and the politicians. 

One feature of every crisis is there are some 'winners'.  Who are they?  Streaming services.  Board game manufacturers.  Kindles.  People rediscovering their public libraries.  Delivery services.
  

And there are Losers:   Movie theaters.  Malls.  Big Box stores with weak internet/delivery presences.   It's the in-between people who will be struggling to regain and regroup:  Hair dressers/barbers or anyone else who provides a personal service.  Sit down restaurants.  Bars, of course, will be able to reopen their doors if they have a bartender.  Any business who relies on the walk-in customer, is in danger of bankruptcy.  You can re-open, but it's very hard to come back from bankruptcy.  I don't think the live performance industry whether entertainment or sport has faced a shutdown of this duration across the entire spectrum.  It will be interesting to see how it's handled.   

There’s no way to pretend you’re not affected by this crisis. There’s really no “us” and “them”.  We are all in this together.  Kindness is going to go a long way.  We need to dig deep and find our altruistic natures.  You can shrug this off in a selfish manner with the attitude that this virus won’t affect ME.  Witness the teens and twenties partying together and still heading to Florida for Spring Break.  Perhaps they won’t get sick (but odds are some will, and they will spread the virus across their hometowns).  Their parents and grandparents will fall ill, and some of those people will die.  I wonder if having beers with buddies is justifiable.

In the ways that count, our entire country is fighting an enemy that many of us will never see.  However, we will all know someone we will see it, and we will all know someone who dies.  Isn't that really what World War II was like?  It affected everyone.  Sacrifice was asked.  Our response 75 years ago was to pull together and rise to the occasion.  Now, we are all being asked to rise to the occasion.  I don't want to be thought of as a profiteer, a slacker, or a danger to my friends and neighbors.  What about you?