A couple of months ago I was skeptical about the naysayers telling us that we had a serious virus epidemic. I lived through many epidemics in the past and never saw anything like what they were saying. The polio epidemic when I was in first grade took my uncle and left crippling scars for many who survived, and then there was the Asian flu, the Swine flu and the H1N1 and so on. I used to get the flu every year until I started to get the flu shot. I have not had the flu since. I could not believe that this virus was going to be any different than those before it. I do remember my father telling me that his little sister died of the flu as a child in 1918, and I still visit her grave by her parents, my grandparents. That flu killed millions, but we have not seen anything like it since and modern medicine has come a long way since then. To me the ebola epidemic in Africa was the most scary since most who get it die.
In February, a friend that I see in the gym I work out at asked if I thought he should travel to Asia in a couple of weeks. He was going for two weeks and is a practicing doctor. There had been no reports of the virus from the country he was to visit, but he was questioning whether or not it was safe. We discussed it, and he later told me that he had cancelled. It was a good choice because he might still be stuck there or quarantined when he returned. This caused me to start to take the news of the spread of the virus more seriously. Next we heard that social distancing was being implemented, and my golf club started to allow only one person to a cart. Then we were not allowed inside the clubhouse, or come in contact with the help. Finally they stopped cleaning carts and only walkers were allowed on the course. Another course is allowing carts and business as usual but telling people that it’s everyone for himself and to wipe down the carts themselves.
My wife and I are getting to know each other again since we have had to give up most of our daily routine which entailed our getting up in the morning and my leaving for exercise and then the coffee shop or the golf course. We sometimes spent the afternoons together but apart in different areas of the house, with me in the basement in my workshop or watching a movie. I still go to the basement but it’s different now. No more bagels at Panera’s for breakfast or an orange on the golf course for lunch. The weekend shopping trips to Pittsburgh have stopped, and grocery store time is very short. We have gone to Sam’s Club to walk around to get some exercise, but that is really defeating the social separation guidelines that we need to heed. It has been a new experience and probably much easier for us than a family with children at home. I still play golf at the other course but stay away from others and wipe down the cart before use. Looks like this is the way of life for a while.
It has been hard to watch the news since the first illness of the country that was caused by the virus has not been cured or even controlled. Both political parties have been using the epidemic to raise money for the election. Many of the news outlets have used their time on air to specifically point out each little error in language when the president speaks, and they try to instill in their viewers the notion that he is lying but they are not listening to anyone else who is saying the same things and have to change their thoughts because of the continued spread of the disease. The president has done a great job by listening to his medical and scientific advisors, which many of those who criticize him are not doing. It is a shame that people getting sick and dying is used to spread political propaganda. There has been a disease in this country for a long time, and that disease is political hatred and divisiveness that is much greater than the racism and social castes in the past. We will get over the virus and go back to our normal living, but we will not survive as a great nation if the disease of political hatred continues. May God help us because this may be one of the plagues we read about in our Bibles.
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