No Laughing Matter

The arrival of a new month used to herald an exciting and new chapter. An opportunity for a better tomorrow. April Fool’s Day brought it’s own share of laughs and jokes at someone else’s expense.

Not so much this year. For 2020 the joke’s on us. The month of March was a roller coaster ride of subterfuge and misdirection.

I am reminded of the first winter I passed in Texas. One evening as I drove home from work, the weather outside felt like it was only going to continue getting colder. The weather reports were saying it was going to snow, but the snow wouldn’t stick as it had not been cold enough in the days prior for the snow to remain. But what I knew was that even if it didn’t snow, as the temperature dropped all that snow and rain would turn into something worse: ice.

So I went by the Target that used to be off the highway by my old apartment and swung into the almost empty parking lot. No one was buying stuff in the store Texas style.

I picked up some supplies for what I expected to turn into a shit show overnight. If there was one thing I already knew about the south from all my years of living in Virginia is that cold weather events of any kind literally bring everything to a grinding halt.

And that is exactly what happened. That night brought the Icemageddon of 2013. No one was prepared. There were so many accidents on the road and a big section of I-35 was shut down as semi-trucks got stuck on the highway. People had to be rescued from the highway as they ran out of gas sitting in the stand still traffic. It was a fiasco of epic proportions. For days after there were so many wrecks and injuries that I quit watching the news as I hunkered down in my apartment to wait the weather out. 

It feels like March was more like that weather report on that night in December. Everyone blowing the virus off, acting like just because you’re Texan you can’t catch the shit. No one was sanitizing, people were not canceling plans.

I had a friend from work who went to Disney World. DISNEY WORLD for a whole week. Basically just exposing herself to the possibility of catching something. Did she? I don’t know. We’ve been in isolation and so far she says she has no symptoms, but it could take more than 2 weeks for symptoms to show and she only just got back the day before we shut down and were sent home. That was a week ago, so her clock is still ticking. 

One other coworker was seriously considering buying a ticket to travel to Hawaii because airfare was so cheap. Even the close proximity of possibly infected people in the many hours long TSA lines at the airports was not enough of a deterrent. I had to ask this moron to walk away from my desk.

Some media channels were saying this would all be over soon. Some news channels were saying we should beware. With conflicting information you have to use your best judgement.

All I knew is that a virus is not a laughing matter, and a virus that kills is not a joke. I was watching and waiting. The moment I read the first report that someone had tested positive in India who had been in Wuhan, I knew it was over at that point. If it made it there, it was coming to the US. And it was definitely coming to Texas. The DFW area is a technological hub for a variety of developing businesses who hire many H1B visa workers. Which is fine, but hey, people have to work, and most people don’t think about how their actions are going to affect others in the long run. If people want a job, they’re going to do whatever it takes, and hope no one notices. 

I don’t blame anyone. You can’t help what you happen to catch just from breathing near someone. However, if I can mitigate it and reduce my chances of the next person being me? I am taking those necessary steps. 

People as a whole are delusional. My mother watches the news. She and my brother watch a bunch of channels so they can “get the whole picture” and they still call me to tell me what the government is telling them. Seriously? How can you hear so many opposing reports and still believe that the government is not lying to the people? The CDC is lying to the public, purposely playing down the severity of the virus for what they believe is the greater good.

Fact is Fiction

2012 (2009): 

Anheuser tells Dr Helmsley that the only jobs they have time to do are for Dr Helmsley to focus on the timeline on when everything is actually going to start to fall apart, and then his (as National Security Advisor) job is to basically cover it up so government can keep running business as usual until they can’t hide it anymore.

Contagion (2011)

Dr Cheever from the CDC wants to bring one of his scientists home who contracted the virus. RADM Haggerty explains to him that will not be possible and the necessity to keep this information to themselves.

Those two clips are the best examples I know of where the likelihood of advance knowledge being suppressed in order to keep the populace calm is portrayed with eerie realism. If you haven’t seen these movies, may as well add them to your list of things to watch during the quarantine.