Corona Letters #4

Dear Fellow Quarantiners,

I'm writing earlier than usual today because last night my head was brimming with thoughts and questions and this is the best place for me to get those thoughts and questions out.

The first thing I want to discuss is Florida.  Oh Florida.  Yesterday several of my Facebook friends posted videos of college students partying on the beaches of Ft. Lauderdale.   Reporters interviewed some of the inebriated students.   They were mostly loud, obnoxious, and entitled sounding.  They said things like "this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me!  I'm not gonna blow it!" (cheers near by from fellow drinkers).   You know what else is a once in a lifetime opportunity?   Death.
It upsets me because these idiots are confirming for the world that this generation is a bunch of entitled brats.   It perpetuates a terrible stereotype.   Meanwhile, there are sooo many college students, safely at their parents homes, hating life right now, but knowing it's the right thing to do.  I see you guys and I applaud you.   I think your generation is awesome from handling this situation with a grace I don't know if I would have had at your age.

There are two kinds of people in Florida right now.  There are the drunk, idiot college students and then there are the old, vulnerable people (yes, I know that Florida is more diverse than that but humor me).  These two do not mix well during these troubling times.   Imagine that one drunken(and unknowingly infected) idiot goes into a Publix to buy a bag of Doritos and crosses paths with an old lady buying pepperidge farm cookies for her Mah Jong group.   In the check out line, he tries to be kind and helps her unload her cart, touching her several times.   The next day she goes to Mah Jong and infects all her friends.   Two weeks later all the elderly in Florida are dead.  Okay, I know I'm being hyperbolic but whatever.   We all know that if the virus reaches Florida it ain't going to be pretty.

This is all why I was so upset last night when I saw on the news that Governor DeSantis of Florida refused to close the Florida beaches.  WTF?  That seems like a crazy decision.  He said it was up to the local governments which seemed like he was passing the buck.   I was up tossing and turning about this a lot last night.  This morning when I "woke up" (can you wake up if you're not really sleeping?) I decided to write about this subject.   But, first I wanted to google it and see if he had changed his mind.  This is what I found.   The governor "refused" to shut ALL the Florida beaches because people use some of the beaches in the rather large state for refuge, for walking, for fresh air.  He didn't want to take that away from the places where the beaches were less crowded.  That actually makes total sense.   He left it to the local officials to close the beaches in places like Ft. Lauderdale which they did.  And, he 100% supported it.    I guess what I learned from this is that during these troubling times, and always, we need to dig deeper when we read something like this.   There may be sound reasoning behind it.

Good Luck Florida!   And, if you're over 60 and vunerable it's probably best not to meet your friends for Mah Jong.

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Feeling Unified,

Yesterday a friend texted me and asked me to write about a positive effect this virus/isolation thing is having on our world.  She asked me to write about how it felt unifying to see people all over the world posting about this experience.   It is so lovely to see people singing out their windows from China and Italy.  It does indeed make the world feel smaller.   It makes us feel empathy for people all over the world.  It makes us love the humanity and sameness in us all.

She also mentioned the "Imagine" video that a bunch of celebrities had collaborated on to put out to the world to show solidarity to show that "we are all one"    She thought it was wonderful.  Most of them had sung from their own homes, their own places of isolation.  They are "just like us".

What I didn't tell her was that I had started watching the video and then turned it off quickly.   I do not feel unified with the celebrities.   I "imagine" it's a lot easier to be quarantined in a 10 million dollar home with a swimming pool, multiple stocked kitchens, and maybe even a personal bowling alley than it is to be in my house.  I also "imagine" that some of them have a staff who go shopping for them, clean their homes, and keep them well stocked with toilet paper.  So, it doesn't work for me.   I'm really am happy for her that she feels unified with these people, and after all, they are just people.   I feel more unified with the woman in Italy singing from her apartment then I do with celebrities.   What do other people feel about this?  Unified or low key disgusted?

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By the numbers,

I don't know of any new cases in my town.  So far just the one.

But, I was thinking about it.   I wonder how many people will actually report if they suspect they have the virus.   It's like admitting you have the plague and having a black X on your house.  If you or a family member had the virus, would you post it on Facebook?  Or would you keep it quiet?
I remember when my girls were little, every now and then, someone in their class would get lice.  A letter would go home to the class alerting us that our children should use precautions because someone had the tiny nits. This would always cause a flurry of conjecture, and nobody I know ever personally confessed to having lice in their homes.  Yet, somebody did.   Now, I know this is different, but still.   Would you admit it publicly?

The U.S.  is currently at a pace that will quickly surpass Italy in numbers.   My husband and I were discussing this last night.    The U.S population hovers around 330 Million, Italy's population is around 60 million.   This means our population is between 5 and 6 times greater than Italy's so of course we will have more cases?  Does this make it "okay" that we have bigger numbers?  Of course not.   To the people who are sick, and the families of those who die even "One" is too big a number.

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On a personal note,

Last night we were FaceTiming with our oldest who I haven't seen for a while due to this outbreak.   She lives and works in Boston and is around people all the time(by necessity not choice).  When my mother-in-law was in the house it seemed like a bad time for her to come home.  But right now, his mother is in the hospital for at least a couple more days and the hospital is not allowing visitors.   My daughter doesn't have to work today and so we discussed the pluses and minuses or her coming home for the day.   I have no doubt that we can "decontaminate" the house before his mother gets home.   I have my lysol wipes!   The big question is what if my daughter is already unknowingly infected?  What if she passes it along to my husband, myself, and other daughter?   Are we being irresponsible?
But, she is our daughter and this is her home.   Such a tough decision.   I will write about it more tomorrow.

Hope every one is doing well out there!  Today is International Happiness Day so, be happy?

Take Care!  Stay Connected!  Stay Virus Free!