We’ve been at war for nearly six months and we’re taking causalities at an ever increasing rate. Our deadly, invisible enemy is everywhere and he’s gaining on us. This is not a turf war like the two World Wars or Korea but a war of attrition like Vietnam, so we’re using the body count method to keep score. As of this morning it’s COVID-19 – 176, 248, USA – 0. And even more alarming, the experts are saying it’s going to get even worse. Expect us to reach a quarter of a million deaths this fall. Yeow!
The desperation of this losing battle is playing heavily on me. Knock on wood, I’m not suffering the deadly respiratory disease the virus carries, but I’m fighting a bunch of emotional issues and experiencing feelings that are new to me.
First is ignorance. I’ve never done this before; there are no guidebooks, no experts to turn to, no nothing. We don’t know squat. We are blindly feeling our way along and stacking up the body bags. This “I don’t know what to do” feeling is new to me and I’m scared. Scared stiff.
Second, the hopelessness of the COVID-19 attack is eating at my being. What can I, what should I do to defeat this dreadful enemy? Nobody knows. Our only defense is to hide. Hide from the enemy by staying home, social distancing, wearing a mask, and washing our hands a lot. Okay, I’m doing all of that, but I want to go on the offensive. I’m a Marine, albeit an old one, and I was taught to vigorously go after an enemy, not hide. But how?
We’ve been advised to hide until a vaccine is available in a year or so. This virus is the same kind of enemy as the common cold and our annual flu. What kind of luck have we had in combating those viruses? If I understand it correctly, we create a vaccine for the flu-of-the-season and the flu virus mutates into a new threat requiring a totally new vaccine. This has been going on for how long? We can’t count on a vaccine. We need a plan B. But what?
Thirdly, I’m afraid. Being afraid is a whole new anxiety to me. Sure I was kinda afraid of catching polio as a kid or HIV as an adult, but this new threat scares the hell out of me. I’m afraid for my loved ones. Are they wearing their masks and social distancing? Is my granddaughter keeping my new great-grand daughter safe? I’m afraid to answer the phone or open the newspaper for fear of bad news.
Lastly, I’m angry. We think we know how to let this virus die out, and yet we’re not doing it. We saw the Pope give his Easter Mass to an empty St. Peter’s Square and how the Roman streets were totally empty as the citizens self-quarantined. We also saw how Governor Cuomo managed the pandemic in New York, but we didn’t learn a damn thing. Last night I saw on TV a crowd of unmasked fans at an Alabama high school football game, huge crowds of college kids partying the start of the new school year, and to top it off a quarter million knuckleheads frolicking at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Haven’t we learned anything?
I’m mad as hell and you should be too.
Too Much Tequila, Too Little Sunscreen 