Stop Pulling the Wagon

Our leaders, both Democratic & Republican, were forced to make some difficult choices in dealing with the Coronavirus – COVID19. I don’t envy them having to make the decisions they were forced to make. Rather than criticize them, I think we should try to understand and support them as much as possible.

Having said that, we need to recognize that in deciding to virtually shut down our economy and require a major portion of our citizenry to submit to a form of “house arrest”, some realities must be accepted.

The purpose of what government is doing is to keep this pandemic from overwhelming our Health Care System, especially in our densely packed large inner cities. A worthy consideration. It is not to “make the virus go away”. “Sheltering in place” in our homes does not defeat the virus, it merely keeps it at bay, like a wolf at the door, so the virus and the pain can be spread over a longer period of time. Sort of like “death by a thousand cuts” if you will.

Once we are allowed to leave the sanctuary of our homes the Coronavirus will still be waiting for us in the real world. We are told that a Vaccine is at least months and maybe a year away.

Many of our leaders and most of the experts seem to be telling us that once we can again leave our homes and return to work, we should be prepared for perhaps permanent changes in our lives. All for our own good of course.

For one thing, I heard on the news a couple of days ago that “they” have developed a (self?) test for the virus at a cost of $120.00 per test. Pretty clearly if we take the test and it shows we have the virus, we will need to “self quarantine” ourselves for 14 days and contact anybody we have had contact with so that they can test and do likewise. What was not said was if the test is negative, how often will we need to re-test. Maybe every time we make an “essential” trip for groceries or go to the pharmacy?

WHERE FUN GOES TO DIE

Many/most of those in charge are telling us the virus will be with us for a long time and flare ups in the fall or maybe this winter or next spring are possible and maybe likely, especially if the virus were to mutate (as virus’s are prone to do) and we should be prepared to again implement and redo what we are going through now. A scary thought!

Beyond testing and the likelyhood that social distancing and masks are likely to become a permanent fixture in our lives, how about:

The impact on Movie Theaters, Sports Arenas and Ball Parks, Theme Parks like Disneyland, Concerts, State and County Fairs, Trade Shows etc. – most any event that brings lots of folks close together.

Getting to work or shopping in a high density city like New York where so much “people moving” is dependent on commuter trains, subways, buses and street foot traffic. How do you maintain social distancing on a jam packed subway system that is frequently making quick stops while passengers are pushing and shoving to get on and off?

Schools, including classrooms and gymnasiums. How do you keep students, especially younger ones at “social distance” from each other? Won’t classrooms have to increase in size to keep desks farther apart?

How does government recapture lost revenue from sporting and other events? Sacramento “went out on a limb” to develop an Arena for a major Basketball Team. The city counted on repaying that investment from taxes on ticket sales, parking fees, hotel and restaurant taxes etc. If you cut the arena seating by 2/3 to accommodate social spacing, do you triple the price of tickets? Is it possible fans will lose some interest? Isn’t part of the fun of attending a game “live” the excitement of the crowd and being able to elbow your friends and saying “Did you see that shot?”

I am almost ashamed to admit that there is a part of me that thinks we should do whatever it takes to provide a safe environment for those at greatest risk in our society, while giving even those folks an “opt out” if they so choose, and then let the rest of us go on about living our lives the way we are used to doing it. The “Experts” statistics show us so far, that if we do get the virus, for some folks it is a non-event, for others it is more of an event but in the end the fatality rate is somewhere between 1%-3% and less than that among the “not at risk” portion of the population. Even among the elderly the risk is greatest among those with underlying health factors. For most of us the risk seems to be in the .5 (one half of one) percent range.

Keep in mind that I, like most everyone else, do not want anyone to die but it seems logical to me we could find a way to protect the most vulnerable without making virtual prisoners out of the rest of us and destroying our economy in the process.

I think I can with a clear conscience offer this opinion because I am one of those considered at risk and I, for myself would choose the “opt out”, take my chances and live my life, using my common sense, the way we were living it before this Coronavirus upended everything.

I am one who chooses facing my foe in the open arena where there is often some real or perceived element of danger, to living my life in the supposed safety of a cage with dependence on government as a companion.

You are free to disagree with me. If you agree, you are also free to share this with someone.

Bob Bandy – April 2020