Ack.
I feel like I’ve been drinking from a veritable fire hose of information overload for the last week.
P.S. “The new normal” sounds like a misnomer. In no way is any of this really normal.
Coronavirus Chaos has swept the nation, not to mention the world, and raised our collective anxiety level a few hundred notches. I was going to say “a few”, but I feel that would be intellectually dishonest. It may depend somewhat on the state in which you reside but here in Ohio each day has brought the mandated closure of more and more businesses. Even more have voluntarily closed. Timelines are typically two to three weeks with an option to reevaluate. Schools and universities are transitioning to online learning for at least a couple weeks, with many making the call now for classes to be online through the end of the semester. Graduation ceremonies are being postponed – students will still graduate, but when they will walk in front of a mass gathering of classmates and loved ones remains to be seen. Spring extracurricular activities have been cancelled or postponed.
The world is in a collective holding pattern while we get the spread of this virus under control.
Some political sniping exists about the situation. There will always be about most anything, plus we’re in a presidential election year. The pleasant surprise is how much bipartisan effort there has been toward putting our noses to the grindstone and just getting this done. The president described it as a wartime-like situation. I tend to agree with that assessment. We can – and should in the sense that gleaning lessons learned is important – Monday-morning-quarterback it all later.
As I mentioned, I live in Ohio. We’re the seventh most populated state in the country (I think once upon a time we were fifth?), so it makes sense we would be amongst the leaders and trendsetters in getting ahead of this pandemic. Our governor and in particular our director of public health have received national attention for their handling of the state’s response. It seems to be a constant balancing act between what looks like an overreaction and overly restrictive government mandates versus why-didn’t-we-have-this-under-control-sooner.
As the meme says, “Our elders were called to war to save lives. We are being called to sit on the couch to save theirs. We can do this.” My grandma actually was a Rosie the Riveter during World War II, by they way.
So anyway.
Everyone remember to breathe in … breathe out … from at least six feet away.
Keep eating healthy.
Stay hydrated.
Follow the hygiene, cleaning, and distancing/isolation practices recommended by public health officials.
If it is safe for you to do so, get outside for some exercise and vitamin D. Spring allergy sufferers, walk your local shopping mall if it’s still open. (Some malls have announced closures, and enough businesses in ours have temporarily shuttered I’m not sure how long they will stay open.) For everyone, there are tons of online streaming resources to guide in-home workouts. A number of companies, YMCAs, and individuals are offering their online workouts for free during the crisis.
If you have the resources, keep patronizing the takeout and delivery options from local restaurants and coffeeshops.
Be a good human and stop hoarding the toilet paper and countless other items at the grocery stores.
Check on your elderly and high risk neighbors and loved ones. Help them get the supplies they need. Not everyone is tech savvy about ordering groceries and takeout on an app. An app to them may mean “appetizer” or, as a local car commercial says, “A nap? Sounds great.”
Tune into the news and/or press conferences enough to know important announcements and changes, but know when to walk away. Check web sites and social media pages of local businesses before you visit them, to learn of any closures or reduction in hours.
Be kind to everyone. Many are being laid off from their jobs or find the businesses they own grinding to a halt because of government mandates. Unemployment and other compensation may be uncertain/insufficient in their case, and they might not know how they’re going to meet their financial obligations. Many others are being tasked to work overtime including in fields that put them at high risk of contracting the virus. Grocery stores, warehousing operations, and big box stores are challenged to meet demand and can’t hire people fast enough. Sometimes the workforce displaced from shuttered businesses translates into workers ready to step into those roles, sometimes not. But it’s all a scramble.
And did I mention the kids are home and doing online school now? Many of those working from home are doing double duty as homeschool parents.
Give everybody a lot of grace.
Give yourself a lot of grace.
When life has changed in so many ways so fast … none of us can be as productive as we’d like to be.
I keep hearing our elected officials say, “We’re all in this together.” I’m waiting for one of them to break out in song.
Stay connected, friends … from an assured clear distance.
And for the love of all that is holy, wash your hands.
