Carpe Diem and All That...
As with most of the rest of the world, I've not thought of much else other than the current pandemic. It is unlike anything anyone alive has ever faced. There are many comparisons made to the 1918 Spanish Flu, but anyone who is alive now was not alive during or not old enough to be aware of that epidemic.
This pandemic got me thinking about all the 'big' events that have happened in my life. I was born exactly 1 week before Black Monday. I remember the first Iraqi war, Saddam Hussein looked like one of my duplo guys so it stuck with me. There was the first trade center bombing but I don't remember hearing about that at the time. The Oklahoma City bombing dominated a lot of our tv time for a while. The USS Cole bombing happened in there but I don't remember much about it. Then there was obviously 9/11. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The dotcom bubble burst. The Great Recession. The Swine Flu pandemic, although obviously much more mild than today. There were Ebola and Zika outbreaks, but those were mostly localized. Now we are facing Coronavirus.
I imagine someday I'll look back on my life with a whole different perspective than I have now, but I do feel I have some ability to face this current crisis because of past disasters.
9/11 was chaotic. It was a moment that changed everything. There was no build up or warning. It was a normal Tuesday that changed the world in a way we could not understand at the time. I remember the early morning phone call we got from someone at church asking where my dad was as they knew he was travelling that week. We were in California so when the first plane hit we were still asleep, but as soon as the call came in the tv was on and so was the radio. I remember how all the phone lines were down. The chaos on the television of where planes were, tracking what planes were unaccounted for. A plane crashed in a field, was it related?? Why was the pentagon on fire? Were there more? I remember my mom left to go play Bunco and I just sat in front of the television all day just watching. My dad was able to call around noon our time to let us know he was okay, we had assumed that as he was in Florida and not flying that day, but in the chaos who even knew what was anything anymore. I had unaccounted for family in New York city, but eventually we learned they were fine. In a time before social media it wasn't a fast process to find that out.
The Great Recession was slow moving. For years we knew the housing market was inflated and made no sense. Banks were offering loans to people who barely had income. You could take out HELOC's on 125% of your homes equity. The rules were fast and loose, you could tell it was all going to hit a point where it failed. The entire fall of 2008 we could all see the markets slowing, the GDP sinking. There was no moment when it finally became clear but it was a slow dawning. It dragged on and there was no clear path out. Eventually, slowly, things got better bit by bit. The entire thing was slow and drawn out, nothing moved quickly.
This pandemic isn't moving with either of these speeds. Its not a moment of change or a slow years long build up. Its like a storm gathering and coming your way, so you have a little bit of time to prepare. We've been watching the pandemic spread across the globe and last week we squeezed in a 5-year-old birthday party, then decided we were holing up. That's easier said than done unfortunately. 3 tons of animal feed we bought to be safe. There was an ear infection that needed a doctor visit. Getting a few things done with court and the bank before that closed. A few last grocery runs. All of it felt like when you are outside moving the light, blowable things off the deck and making sure the shed door is shut. You're moving fast, the wind is building up, the sky is getting dark, but you know it has to be done. You're afraid but you can't stop to feel the fear because you know if you do you'll never be ready in time.
I've spent far too much time watching the news, and every day the case numbers go up. The numbers we know about that is, not enough people are tested so who knows what they truly are. In a way it doesn't matter. They didn't have a test for the Spanish flu but we all knew how bad it was anyway. Everyday the numbers go up, but everyday there are more idiots making a name for themselves because 'it's just a flu' or 'I'm young and healthy' or 'its not a big deal' or, my personal favorite, 'people die, its not our place to change that'. In every hurricane season there is always the Mensa candidate who has to go out surfing on the 20 foot waves, or when a volcano erupts the old guy who has lived on the mountain for 60 years and isn't leaving, or the blizzard where its just so important to go run that errand, and all of them end up paying for it. This situation is no different, there are plenty that will die or wish they had from their stupidity, but unfortunately they may take others with.
I've always appreciated the way a crisis, whether small and personal or large and nationwide, gives a sense of clarity as to what's really important and where focus should fall. When this is over, and hopefully that time will be soon, I hope that we will all have a better perspective on life and people. They say you know who your friends are when your back is against a wall, but on the flip side a joint crisis shows not just who you matter to, but who it is that matters to you. On a personal note, I am nothing but thankful for the people who I know I will be able to weather this storm with even while I grieve the people who won't. One thing I've already learned in this crisis, is to seize the day. Nothing is certain and in a time when the rules change by the minute, never put off until tomorrow what should be done now, because tomorrow may not be an option.
We will all get through this, and someday we'll laugh about the time we were all stuck in our houses, the good chips ran low, and we watched every decent television show ever made. That said, who can lend me their HBO login, there is a new season of Westworld that needs watching.
This pandemic got me thinking about all the 'big' events that have happened in my life. I was born exactly 1 week before Black Monday. I remember the first Iraqi war, Saddam Hussein looked like one of my duplo guys so it stuck with me. There was the first trade center bombing but I don't remember hearing about that at the time. The Oklahoma City bombing dominated a lot of our tv time for a while. The USS Cole bombing happened in there but I don't remember much about it. Then there was obviously 9/11. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The dotcom bubble burst. The Great Recession. The Swine Flu pandemic, although obviously much more mild than today. There were Ebola and Zika outbreaks, but those were mostly localized. Now we are facing Coronavirus.
I imagine someday I'll look back on my life with a whole different perspective than I have now, but I do feel I have some ability to face this current crisis because of past disasters.
9/11 was chaotic. It was a moment that changed everything. There was no build up or warning. It was a normal Tuesday that changed the world in a way we could not understand at the time. I remember the early morning phone call we got from someone at church asking where my dad was as they knew he was travelling that week. We were in California so when the first plane hit we were still asleep, but as soon as the call came in the tv was on and so was the radio. I remember how all the phone lines were down. The chaos on the television of where planes were, tracking what planes were unaccounted for. A plane crashed in a field, was it related?? Why was the pentagon on fire? Were there more? I remember my mom left to go play Bunco and I just sat in front of the television all day just watching. My dad was able to call around noon our time to let us know he was okay, we had assumed that as he was in Florida and not flying that day, but in the chaos who even knew what was anything anymore. I had unaccounted for family in New York city, but eventually we learned they were fine. In a time before social media it wasn't a fast process to find that out.
The Great Recession was slow moving. For years we knew the housing market was inflated and made no sense. Banks were offering loans to people who barely had income. You could take out HELOC's on 125% of your homes equity. The rules were fast and loose, you could tell it was all going to hit a point where it failed. The entire fall of 2008 we could all see the markets slowing, the GDP sinking. There was no moment when it finally became clear but it was a slow dawning. It dragged on and there was no clear path out. Eventually, slowly, things got better bit by bit. The entire thing was slow and drawn out, nothing moved quickly.
This pandemic isn't moving with either of these speeds. Its not a moment of change or a slow years long build up. Its like a storm gathering and coming your way, so you have a little bit of time to prepare. We've been watching the pandemic spread across the globe and last week we squeezed in a 5-year-old birthday party, then decided we were holing up. That's easier said than done unfortunately. 3 tons of animal feed we bought to be safe. There was an ear infection that needed a doctor visit. Getting a few things done with court and the bank before that closed. A few last grocery runs. All of it felt like when you are outside moving the light, blowable things off the deck and making sure the shed door is shut. You're moving fast, the wind is building up, the sky is getting dark, but you know it has to be done. You're afraid but you can't stop to feel the fear because you know if you do you'll never be ready in time.
I've spent far too much time watching the news, and every day the case numbers go up. The numbers we know about that is, not enough people are tested so who knows what they truly are. In a way it doesn't matter. They didn't have a test for the Spanish flu but we all knew how bad it was anyway. Everyday the numbers go up, but everyday there are more idiots making a name for themselves because 'it's just a flu' or 'I'm young and healthy' or 'its not a big deal' or, my personal favorite, 'people die, its not our place to change that'. In every hurricane season there is always the Mensa candidate who has to go out surfing on the 20 foot waves, or when a volcano erupts the old guy who has lived on the mountain for 60 years and isn't leaving, or the blizzard where its just so important to go run that errand, and all of them end up paying for it. This situation is no different, there are plenty that will die or wish they had from their stupidity, but unfortunately they may take others with.
I've always appreciated the way a crisis, whether small and personal or large and nationwide, gives a sense of clarity as to what's really important and where focus should fall. When this is over, and hopefully that time will be soon, I hope that we will all have a better perspective on life and people. They say you know who your friends are when your back is against a wall, but on the flip side a joint crisis shows not just who you matter to, but who it is that matters to you. On a personal note, I am nothing but thankful for the people who I know I will be able to weather this storm with even while I grieve the people who won't. One thing I've already learned in this crisis, is to seize the day. Nothing is certain and in a time when the rules change by the minute, never put off until tomorrow what should be done now, because tomorrow may not be an option.
We will all get through this, and someday we'll laugh about the time we were all stuck in our houses, the good chips ran low, and we watched every decent television show ever made. That said, who can lend me their HBO login, there is a new season of Westworld that needs watching.
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