It’s been a few weeks since I wrote about the inescapable fact of reality that is COVID-19. In those weeks, things have, obviously, gotten worse. Much worse. We went from having a few cases in my county to over 700, with 13 deaths. That’s just in the county — the state is now at nearly 4000 confirmed cases, with 65 deaths; and the nation on a whole isn’t looking any better — in many cases, worse depending on the state. Nation wide we’re at 330,000 cases of infection with nearly 9000 deaths.
I’m sorry, I normally try very hard not to be so blunt when blogging, and not to touch on such depressing facts, but this is an inescapable event — a part of history which must be recorded from the individuals perspective as much as possible, and the exact stats as they are when I write these entries set the stage. In just a few weeks things have skyrocketed, and they aren’t going to get better.
A week and a half ago on March 25th the local governments all began setting up their own “lockdown” situations, if you can even call them that — they ammount to a piss poor suggestion that people stay home, and that “non essential” businesses stay closed. Essential was so broadly defined that many places that you think wouldn’t be open still are and while I would say that includes our shop, we’ve been serving a role we deem essential enough in that we do repairs on gaming consoles — repairs many people desperately need given they, or their kids, are now home all day every day and naturally need something to do, and if the system is broken (which is inevitable given the common failure modes that PlayStation 4’s and, to a lesser extent, Xbox One consoles have) it’s good to be able to get it repaired.
So, to that end I still go to work every day as normal. We’re only doing a curbside business model, where people call and we work out the transaction over the phone, take care of paperwork via a drop box, what have you — it’s annoying but when people actually follow the proper rules for this situation (stay distant, call us, not try to walk in, what have you) it goes by pretty smoothly and people seem to appreciate that we are trying to stay open. It helps that this keeps me with an income, as I’d be kind of fucked without it.
Income.. that’s really the key thing here.. people are still working because they need a check.. because companies don’t want to close or, in the case of mine, can’t. Sure, a stimulus package was eventually pushed through, a very one-sided one-time one that’s honestly an insult to the American populace, but thanks to some quirks about it many who would be the most affected and in need won’t even be able to get any money from it! Complex situations have arisen among many which means they won’t get squat, all because of some unique conditions that, no, are not them making too much money. Far from it.
Even then, people still have to go out and about, and that’s where this shit has been spreading. Between people needing to do basic shopping and those just ignoring the severity of the situation, that is! Yes, there are still reports of people not giving a fuck, having parties, going to big group events, what have you, as if there isn’t a serious issue going on! Honestly, I have no pity for these people, but wish they could, for even a moment, consider how likely they are if, no, when, they get sick, to spread the virus to others who may not survive an infection from it. Inconsiderate wastes is the nicest thing I can say about them.
How hard is it to just stay the fuck home? Are you that bored? Too bad, deal with it. I rarely ever go out, I don’t make events like basketball or bands my main source of entertainment, and I’m honestly not affected in the least by nothing going on — as I said, it’s life as normal for me, at home, online, or playing some kind of game, enjoying the things I always have. Were it not for the constant updates online and the clearly not-normal nature of the streets and businesses, I’d not even know anything was going on. I see people posting that they “can’t wait for April to be over so they can go back to basketball games” and I’ve got bad news for them — that’s not going to be the case. If it is, then holy hell, I feel for the end results of that mistake.
The way the US is handling this is an absolute joke, to say it bluntly. We should be shut down outright. Period. No one that isn’t absolutely critical should be working, and those people should be treated with a special level of care and priority. Everyone else should be home, with (yes, I’m breaking out financial terms here) all monies owed rendered a non-issue for 3 months. Translation into normal speak: hit the fucking pause button. Ration out resources, don’t charge anyone for anything, stop rent, mortgage, car payments, everything, for a period of time and let us get all this shit in order and be in an actual fucking lockdown instead of this half-assed excuse of a “self quarantine” so many are doing. I don’t want to argue economics or details with you, either — in the end, the money is an artificial construct created by people, and this situation extends beyond that self-created concept having any meaningful value. What’s it fucking matter that bills are payed if millions of people are dead? Were their lives worth it? Obviously the federal government thinks so, with the bail outs and the constant attempts to “get things back to normal” and “re-open all the stores before Easter” and other crap being spouted by a certain someone. If you ever needed proof that your lives mean nothing to people like them, that only big business matters in the end, that’s it right there.
I’m sorry, I still don’t see this panning out well. The CDC recently suggested people go ahead and wear masks, in what is obviously a desperate attempt at trying to do something, anything, to stop the spread of Coronavirus. This isn’t because they have “run out of ideas” or anything — oh no, it’s because the idiots calling the shots won’t do the one thing they need to which will help most to stop the spread of the virus.
Yes, I’m pissed off. Yes, I’m scared. Scared for my friends, my family, myself, for everyone. This will not end well at this rate; what we’re doing is too little, too late — it should have been what was done in the middle of last month at the latest, but instead we’re finally getting around to it now, and that just fucking sickens me, as it should you. Beyond that, however, as I said, my day to day life is mostly normal, save for the constant fear that the one person I get a little too close to may be a carrier, and that I may get sick and then, who knows… in two weeks I may be gone, or I may give it to someone I care about and… well… you can fill in the rest of the story.
Maybe that’s why I’m writing these otherwise very atypical entries… just in case something happens. I certainly hope it doesn’t. Every day I have a bit of a fever or a sore throat I’m worried that much more. Hopefully it’s just seasonal allergies (it is Springtime, after all) but I just don’t know for sure, and that’s the worst thing. Not knowing.
What I do know is, this isn’t going to be over for a very long time.