Wow, Americans are all on the emotional edge right now. The media is filled with global economic collapse, the Covid-19 virus, shortages in grocery stores, election scare tactics, climate change, conspiracy theories, education crises, LGBTQ crises, and anything else one can dream up to get viewers and ratings. I literally have friends living in cities right now who are purchasing and preparing for the apocalypse. No electricity, military surrounding their homes, no food, neighbor shooting neighbor, and FEMA camps are what they are envisioning any day now. I have other friends who have found mundane things to obsess about and blow out of all proportion in order to distract themselves from the impending doom seen on the media. Most people have a short fuse and are extremely quick to anger over any small incident right now. No one believes the US Government, the US media, or the CDC. We all know better. That is inherently the problem. It’s hard not to panic when you can’t trust the people and entities in charge of the situation and the dissemination of information. We all understand that the CDC and our government will downplay certain crises in order to prevent panic. We all understand that our media will purposefully instill panic in order to get views and ratings. Where is the truth in all of this? It’s very frustrating. A little honesty goes a long ways with most people. Yes, that’s my own personal pipedream…honesty from any of the aforementioned entities. It’ll never happen.
What do we do?
Well, let’s start with utilities. No country has cut off utilities because of the COVID-19 virus. Cutting off utilities during the spread of a virus is quite possibly the stupidest thing you could do. It would enable the virus to spread faster due to unsanitary and unsafe conditions. It would inhibit medical equipment from working. Unless your tap water tests unsafe, you don’t need to be rushing to the store to buy bottled water. How many people touched that bottled water? Did you disinfect it before you drank out of the bottle? Your own tap water is probably safer.
Hoarding. Stop it! OK, the store had 150 bottles of hand sanitizer and you bought all of them. You are an idiot. There is no nice way to say that to you. You can’t possibly use 150 bottles of hand sanitizer. Meanwhile, no one else is using any because YOU hoarded all the hand sanitizer. The result? All of your neighbors are sick. Brilliant thinking. Now what are you planning on doing? The idea is for everyone to sanitize and prevent the community spread so that we are all safe. Stop being a jerk. Karma has a way of dealing with jerks. Don’t hoard anything. Buy what you will use and need. Leave the rest on the shelf for other people.
Honestly, everyone should have been practicing hand washing and disinfecting anyway. Had we been doing this, there would be far fewer flu deaths and missed work or school days. Take a deep breath and think about what you will need and use if the stores are temporarily out or the supply is temporarily gone. The world isn’t ending over one virus. The world isn’t ending anytime soon in regards to anything in the media. Yes, even climate change. Your bills are still going to arrive each month and you are still going to be responsible for paying them. Maybe they will take a case of Purell hand sanitizer as payment, but I doubt it.
Be nice to your friends and neighbors. You may find that in times of crises you need each other and will be glad you weren’t a jerk. If the media is starting to make you panic, take a break. Shut it down. Go do something fun or mundane. Give yourself a sense of normality. Go wash your car, watch a movie, do your dishes, or just go visit your neighbor. Enjoy your life.
Middle of the Muddy Road 