IT'S LIKE A WAR

                                                           

A while back the President compared our current situation with the pandemic to being at war. I felt at the time he was being a little overly dramatic but then again, maybe he has something there. I have often wondered what it was like in world war II, in London or the German cities, to be a civilian and hear the siren’s going off and wondering if this was the night a bomb found your house with you inside of it. You would hear the concussions all around you and wonder when your number was going to be up. On the upside you would never know what hit you but then maybe it would be a dud and you would just have to patch the hole in the roof.

Today in the midst of this pandemic we sit home trying to stay as far away as we can from everyone. But once or twice a week we sneak out to get some essentials and wonder if this is the day, you pick the loaf of bread that someone sneezed on. If that door handle to the grocery store was dripping with the virus or if when you punched accept on the key pad at the gas pump, there was a COVID- 19 germ just sitting there, waiting to go home with you. You ask yourself did I have my mask on properly?  So many questions for sure.

This weekend I’m going to see my family at my son’s house in the cities. I haven’t seen any of them since last October when I headed down south for the winter. There is a new baby now 2 months old I have never held. Three other great grandkids, now toddlers and moms and dads, my grandkids. But you can only stay away so long. There is no upside here if I get infected. Maybe weeks in the hospital and maybe just the sniffles. And maybe it’s the last chapter but not the way I dreamed about it. Alone.  All in all, it’s up to me to try and protect myself.

I’m not trying to make light of our situation. Too any people have been hurt already for that. Too many still left to be hurt. Food lines like we have never seen before. The richest country in the world and thousands of people going hungry. Yet farmers are euthanizing their livestock, plowing under their crops and dumping their milk, because there is no way to get them, to market. It seems like a bad dream. People are angry, revolting against the authorities, yet not many answers are forth coming. They say it will get worse before it gets better. That It’s not going away anytime soon. What’s going to happen when real desperation sets in? Will it be a few months or will it still be here next year and is the time coming when we just have to get back to business as usual and those who are most vulnerable and get sick become collateral damage and that’s sad if it comes to that-- but the sick may have to take one for the Gipper, because there is no other way. This thing is bigger than all of us right now.

Always in the past this country has found a way. I hope that is our mantra. I hope that at some point politics becomes a moot point. That we will find ways to help each other beyond banging pots and pans out the windows or Navy jets flying salutes overhead and someday when this is all over, we’ll have that more perfect union our forefathers talked about back when this country started and one that we could have had a long time ago but we got off track. It’s going to take some humble pie, far less greed, hate and selfishness and a whole new attitude from a lot of people. Let’s hope and pray for change. 

WAKE UP AMERICA

I had a conversation the other day with a friend about how the Corona-Virus was able to get so far out of control in this country before we got serious about doing something about it. We talked about South Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand and a few other countries that were able to keep it under control and how our response seemed to differ from theirs. Now for sure, the initial response from our leaders had a lot to do with it. From our president calling it a hoax-- something he doesn’t mention any more-- to the typical attitude of our government to be reactive instead of proactive on most problems our country faces. One only needs to Look at our neglected infrastructure for an example. But the most serious thing that seems to impede any logical response to this problem—and a lot of other problems in our country-- there is little discipline in this country for some people to follow the rules we have put in place and not much response from the law to enforce them. It seems it’s almost admirable nowadays to be a rebel. Those countries I did talk about-- that had good success in stopping this pandemic. They have no time for rebels in their society. Laws and rules without any enforcement, are simply advice and here they are treated as such.

When I was a young lad my father told me, it would be a good experience to go in the military. “At least you would learn about discipline” he said, “and from someone besides your parents.” I chose the fire service instead but actually they had that same militaristic approach. Not always popular with everyone, but basically things ran smoothly. Our original constitution was the foundation for a good government. A fair way to run the country and please most of the people. We then over the decades instead of improving on it, litigated it to pieces trying to please everyone who screamed about their rights. Rights that were never meant to be. 

The new norm in politics and politicking at election time, is not to talk about any achievements you might have had, although they are rare today, but instead to chastise your opponent by digging into his or her past and finding any kind of dirt you can, relevant or not. In effect you want to try and make yourself look good by making someone else look bad. How’s that for a prerequisite for an elected office. Really helps us as voters to understand how you as a candidate, are going to help this country doesn’t it?

Someday when the history of our country is written and the story is over, somebody will be able to look back and see what it was that destroyed this great country. At the end of World War II, we were the epitome of what sacrifice and freedom was all about. We had literally saved the world from the oppression of a few bad leaders. The country had come together in a way that had never been seen before. The sacrifices they made were great, and pride ruled the day, not wining and dis- ingenious political rhetoric. This Memorial Day we will once again honor those who sacrificed so much. There will be a lot of politicians out there making speeches on that day and a lot of them should have to ask themselves publicly, was I worth that sacrifice? I used to go to a lot of cowboy movies when I was a kid, and in the end the good guys always won. It’s not been a good time for the good guys anymore. I used to put a lot of faith in the good guys but somehow today---my faith in this government has been shattered. 

IT;S LIKE A WAR.

                                                         

A while back the President compared our current situation with the pandemic to being at war. I felt at the time he was being a little overly dramatic but then again, maybe he has something there. I have often wondered what it was like in world war II, in London or the German cities, to be a civilian and hear the siren’s going off and wondering if this was the night a bomb found your house with you inside of it. You would hear the concussions all around you and wonder when your number was going to be up. On the upside you would never know what hit you but then maybe it would be a dud and you would just have to patch the hole in the roof.

Today in the midst of this pandemic we sit home trying to stay as far away as we can from everyone. But once or twice a week we sneak out to get some essentials and wonder if this is the day, you pick the loaf of bread that someone sneezed on. If that door handle to the grocery store was dripping with the virus or if when you punched accept on the key pad at the gas pump, there was a COVID- 19 germ just sitting there, waiting to go home with you. You ask yourself did I have my mask on properly?  So many questions for sure.

This weekend I’m going to see my family at my son’s house in the cities. I haven’t seen any of them since last October when I headed down south for the winter. There is a new baby now 2 months old I have never held. Three other great grandkids, now toddlers and moms and dads, my grandkids. But you can only stay away so long. There is no upside here if I get infected. Maybe weeks in the hospital and maybe just the sniffles. And maybe it’s the last chapter but not the way I dreamed about it. Alone.  All in all, it’s up to me to try and protect myself.

I’m not trying to make light of our situation. Too any people have been hurt already for that. Too many still left to be hurt. Food lines like we have never seen before. The richest country in the world and thousands of people going hungry. Yet farmers are euthanizing their livestock, plowing under their crops and dumping their milk, because there is no way to get them, to market. It seems like a bad dream. People are angry, revolting against the authorities, yet not many answers are forth coming. They say it will get worse before it gets better. That It’s not going away anytime soon. What’s going to happen when real desperation sets in? Will it be a few months or will it still be here next year and is the time coming when we just have to get back to business as usual and those who are most vulnerable and get sick become collateral damage and that’s sad if it comes to that-- but the sick may have to take one for the Gipper, because there is no other way. This thing is bigger than all of us right now.

Always in the past this country has found a way. I hope that is our mantra. I hope that at some point politics becomes a moot point. That we will find ways to help each other beyond banging pots and pans out the windows or Navy jets flying salutes overhead and someday when this is all over, we’ll have that more perfect union our forefathers talked about back when this country started and one that we could have had a long time ago but we got off track. It’s going to take some humble pie, far less greed, hate and selfishness and a whole new attitude from a lot of people. Let’s hope and pray for change.