Yesterday, when I elected to venture out to several stores in a nearby town, I almost felt as if I were a player in a real life Clue game. There I was, wearing a mask, avoiding close human contact as much as possible and unobtrusively slipping in and out of aisles, perhaps pretending that if I made myself invisible, the virus wouldn't find me. However, as I glanced at others likewise darting through the stores, it suddenly struck me that any one of these shoppers (including myself!) could be carrying, unknowingly or not----COVID-19. So who could be the guilty party? Just look around. Could it be the old codger in Kroger with a cane? College coed in Kohl's with a crossover bag? Baby in Books-A-Million with a rattle? Decorator in Hobby Lobby with fall flowers? Executive in the Exxon station with a Cross pen? It could be anyone. And by the time a suspect is pinpointed, it could be too late. No one is going to win this game.
September 9, 2020
I think that, from the perspective of an American, that the pandemic has really put a spotlight on the rot within American society. Poor people are more likely to get sick because they are "essential" and cannot simply stop working. Poor people are more likely to contract more severe cases of covid because, generally speaking, they are unhealthier than middle class and above Americans. Poor people are more likely to die from covid because they do not have access to decent medical care, assuming they can even find medical care at all. Too many Americans are suffering needlessly because they can't afford to go to the doctor. There are genetic components at works well, that we do not yet understand. But it is abundantly clear that this is a disease that, while it literally does not care at all who it infects, the treatment of the illness is vastly different based on wealth and community resource, which all too often means that POC get the shortest end of the stick.
May 10, 2021