Nothing “funny” about this post…
Masks and Respirators And Ventilator, OH MY!
I’ve reading sci fi since I discovered reading- Jules Verne, H.G. Wells et al.
But I was taught to read, reading crap like:
“Dick and Jane Get a Puppy” or “Dick and Jane Go To The Country”.
(Yawn)
“Dick and Jane…Go to Venus?”
Yeah, okay…that might be interesting. No one ever offered that. Too bad, it might have spawned a series to rival the “Hardy Boys” or “Nancy Drew”.
It seemed as though there were a set of images that any author needed to tick off in order to create what was in all the dystopic novels- All sorts of special and particularly intrusive gear to protect you from the outside. Tons of information ricocheting around in your retina and brain-pan was designed to thrill and chill the reader; to put him in a world devoid of “humanity” as we knew it but left with a People whose indomitable spirit allowed them to- if not prosper, at least survive- provided that they take the correct precautions. That is: some sort of air filter, some eye protection and often (this was optional for some authors) a full-body protective suit.
The earth has turned against us!
“Outside” can kill you! The World of “Wool”. I hated the book, BTW but since everyone was raving about it I figured why not read it?
Note to self: “Everyone” can be wrong.
I thought: “How sad; how difficult and how poignant that someone could imagine that we might have fallen so far. I’d hate to live in a world like that!”
Now Covid has changed all of that. I DO live in a world like that. We all do. What’s more, I think that masks, “Six feet apart or six feet under” will become the mantra of those of us who are still “in play”; still unaffected by whatever Covid-19 morphs into. And, I’m in no hurry for the sequel: “Covid 20- Now Sh*t Gets Real!”
I spend my waking hours thinking about what might be; what’s to come, trying to guess what the future will hold in store for us. Now I didn’t expect Covid -19, but now that is here it will wreak changes the like of which have not been seen in our lifetimes.
I see people protesting (some with guns!- Are they actually planning to use them? Will this spark an insurrection? Otherwise are the weapons simply brought along to intimidate?) and who wish to go back to their lives – now!
I think, in light of what we don’t know, “now” might be a tad soon. This is more of a marathon than a sprint and we won’t “finish” this quickly, I fear.
This is exacerbated by the fact that we have no universal testing; no way of knowing who has “cooties”, and no way to know if you’re infected, but asymptomatic (“Typhoid Mary” redux waiting to happen?). So go ahead, get a haircut, get a perm…even a tattoo. You’ll want to your best in your casket.
Anyone could be the next nexus; the next flashpoint, or vector for this to springboard to yet another group of people. This virus simply wants to live and in discovering us, it has hit the jackpot. There are so many of us, and so many NOT listening to guidelines that I scarcely believe that we will ever tame this bug without a vaccine (which in and of itself is not without risks- the “anti-vax movement” of loonies notwithstanding).
I expect that a large percentage of your favorite local restaurants will not survive, which is sad only because of their very scale all the fast food places will probably be fine; bars that serve food will be constrained, perhaps to the point of breaking because a local pub is a meeting place and if that is no longer safe…? The “Big Boys” whatever area of endeavor you scrutinize, will just get bigger because they have the wherewithal to weather this storm.
So, understanding that the masks will be here long term, the six feet apart means no hugging, long term, scarcity in the grocery stores is just beginning to show up for a long term run perhaps a “residence” (don’t forget to tip your waitperson!). More scarcities are yet to come.
If you eat meat, understand that there will be meat scarcities because it takes time to bring an animal to market. Many of the animals intended for “now”, will not get here because of related industry closures. So plan for rolling outages of certain veggies, all sorts of meats, and milk…which is actually being dumped because it can’t get to market. Many farmers will go under, further exacerbating the long-term Covid affects and rolling shortages. Sadly, the big agro-business companies will use this opportunity to buy them up and further consolidate, making us even more at their mercy.
Then, there’s gas -while the price has fallen, don’t think that Big Oil won’t hasten to make up for lost profits at their first opportunity. So be prepared.
However, there is a potentially even more serious problem looming and when I tell you what it is, you’ll think that I’m joking.
I’m not.
Since we’ve been sheltering in place, we as a group, have been binge-ing on whatever Netflix et al offers. There is not a bottomless hole full of “product”; not even at Netflix. Soon, we will see the results of studios closing for Covid safety affecting what’s available on TV, which will drive all of us couch-dwellers ever further into our Streaming sites. In no time, we will grudgingly watch “Shrek 3” because there is simply “nothing else on that I haven’t seen already”. I’ve resorted to trying to see what I can get from Britain and Australia (with a bit of success as a stop-gap action) -like setting a fire to prevent another fire from getting bigger and unmanageable, I suppose.
A mind is a terrible thing to waste and reading books will only get you so far; hobbies will stave off “the crazy” for a while, I’d guess; zoom meetings with friends and relatives will help but are ultimately unsatisfying for all the obvious reasons.
This is when the masks will really come in handy: to hide all the unhappy faces…Bored of jigsaw puzzles, 100% through streaming service offerings, sick of the four walls (and really reviling that couch, now that I think about it…) and still not able to go anywhere. The masks will hide only half of our faces however. The desperation will still show through the eyes.
And all those dystopic novels will finally have a ring of prescience to them; we will still be wearing masks and trying not to infect or be infected.
This is a Grave New World we’ve entered. I’m afraid that it’s going to be tougher before it gets better.
Hide the cutlery; lock up the guns.
