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Sunday, April 19, 2020

Locked down for the greater good



I make notes on my desk pad of topics that could make a decent post. I make a lot of notes on the pad, and line through them when done. Eventually the sight of the desk pad could make me crazy, and I tear it off and start with a shiny new sheet of paper. 

For the first time ever, somewhere in the six or eight weeks of the top sheet of paper, I’d lifted that sheet and wrote a note on the next sheet, that I’m using now. It says “nothing that’s wrong with me will kill me, but it all slows me down.” Apparently I thought that a fine topic sentence.

And now I thought, that’s some gruesome homily to throw out at Covid-19.  But it’s not, as long as I don’t actually have the virus. On the other hand, avoiding the virus is slowing me down. 

Interesting,  the drastic measure of shutting down the country has held the death rate of the virus to a very few percentage points above the annual death rate of flu, or heart disease. The flaw in this thinking being, we have a vaccination for flu and we know how to prevent heart disease.

Human nature being human nature, we spit at heart disease. We smoke, we drink, we are obese, and we rely on modern medicine to save us. We fill up entire hospital wards with our heart problems, and bring up new generations of heart specialists to save us.  

Enough of us are vaccinated against the flu viruses to hold down our hospital bed occupation to the same as the heart patients. And the hospitals are nearly full, and the health care professionals are all occupied, and here comes Covid-19.

We’ve been warned before. We had a flu epidemic in 1918 that killed more millions that are truly known. But that was a century ago, you know. Four generations. We didn’t invest in better education, more health care professionals, more research labs, more hospitals. They cost, and the money flowed elsewhere. It could even have flowed into great funds available to slam into a problem the instant it’s recognized.

But you know me, the tree hugging liberal—all the money has gone to make a pitiful few grossly rich, and an even more pitifully few of them willing to put their money to the solution. Not the way it should be, in my opinion.

Back to the present, here we are, locked down for the greater good. And suddenly we have rebellion, fomented by the leader of the country, to end lock down, back to normal, now, overnight, with no plan. There is a price for this, of course, and some of us know what the science professionals are telling us, the price is the lives of the children and their grandparents. 

Collateral damage, as it’s called. But it allows the generation in the middle to make money, keep up the house payments, go to the beach, send the children to college.

I don’t know an answer. Just a few could be, send tax dollars to research. Earmark some to fund emergencies from the bottom up, from household income to hospital expansion. Use common sense. Make your employees help in a plan of six foot distancing, hand washing, face masks, going home if sick. Agree to emergency measures for the short term; off site schooling, and work.


This is my grandmother, at age sixteen. Already her mother had died in the flu epidemic of 1918. The previous recession had so restricted he father’s income that her mother made their home a boarding home. My grandmother still did all the laundry, cooked the meals, and cleaned up. There at home she was working as hard as the health care professionals of her time. 


My mother was raised with the same work ethic. Even though she has retired from a regular job, she walked into our studio and said “teach me to weave.”  When she passed, we found we had to hire two weavers to replace her.

I grew up knowing I was ultimately responsible for my upkeep. My daughters hopefully learned the same.


I think the solution to pandemics is meeting them with a plan. Not my plan, but one worked out by our leaders, for the greater good, and with our agreement. 

Another interesting fact, there have been no cases of Covid-19 in my zip code, or some abutting zip codes. The official reason cited is “The National Park”, and lack of people. How about a lot more parks! 44264, that's me.





47 comments:

  1. Joanne, I'm so glad there are no positive cases in your zip code. That's wonderful! Please stay there and don't venture out. I know you are itching to get out, but write more posts, weave more towels! Stay home and stay well. I'm so afraid they are going to 'open the country' too soon...

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  2. Congrats on your virus free zip code area! That picture of your mother as a young woman is so beautiful, and the picture of her smiling as she's hard at work on the loom is heartwarming. She seemed to be having a great time.

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  3. and the difference between flu deaths and covid deaths is that flu death tally is for the whole season whild covid death tally is 2 ½ months.and it's going to get worse before it gets better especially with Trump double dealing. he finally issues reasonable guidelines following the recommendations of the healthcare professionals in his administration for the governors for restarting the economy and then he undermines them by having his minions start these protests to open everything immediately, to hell with the guidelines. in this way he can avoid the blame. not that he would accept it anyway.

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    1. That's the tbi for you; a giant gap in my reasoning. Thanks for pointing that out.

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    2. The end of Tom Friedman's column in today's NYT:
      So, folks, forget about all those White House briefings. You don’t have to tune in another day. When the president is calling on governors to “let their people go” before comprehensive testing facilities are in place, he is basically saying that, until there is a vaccine, we are betting on herd immunity. Achieving herd immunity requires that more than two-thirds of a community be immune, a process that could involve many more deaths, if proper preparations are not in place.

      That may work out for some places and people. It may not. I do not know. Every choice in dealing with this virus is fraught with huge tradeoffs between saving lives and saving the economy that sustains lives. I just know three things:

      First, this is the bet Trump is urging you to make in his “liberate” tweets — when he should be ordering out the National Guard and mobilizing American industry to get testing everywhere.

      Second, this bet will fall very unfairly and unevenly in our society, when so little testing and tracing is in place.

      And third, if this is the future, every business, restaurant, hotel, theater, sporting facility, factory, nonprofit and government office needs to ask itself: What does my business look like when, on the best days, the responsible people coming to my door will be wearing a mask, gloves, distancing six feet apart and volunteering to have their temperature taken before they enter, and the irresponsible ones won’t be? How do I handle that? Whom do I serve? What kind of business will I really have? Because that will be our economy until we have a vaccine or have established herd immunity.

      Bottom line, my fellow Americans: Your president is telling you that you’re on your own to make these decisions. And if this strategy works, you can be sure that he will take credit. And if it doesn’t, you can be sure that he will tweet that it was all Anthony Fauci’s idea.

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    3. What confuses me is why we didn't have to wait for a vaccine for some of the other big scares like SARS and others. We waited for the crisis to pass and we carried on. Now they are telling us (at least where I live) that we will not be back to life as we formerly knew it until there is a vaccine. That is at least another year or more of some type of restriction/s. I can live with some restrictions. What I don't get is why they think we need a vaccine for this one.

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    4. BTW, testing is only 70% accurate and is not helpful if you don't have symptoms of CV19. I'm beginning to think the testing is useless altogether.

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  4. I enjoyed reading this post. Some were raised with work ethic and a sense of self reliance or responsibility. Others have been raised to expect being taken care of and to blame others. Generation after generation (not a judgement - an actual observation). We are fortunate in that we don't have many cases in our general area, but as we all know, it doesn't take much to change that. I'm flip flopping around in my own mind from day to day. Thanks for this interesting read. I also really liked seeing pictures of your ancestors! -Jenn

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    1. We never know. Work ethic could become common again.

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  5. Lots of wisdom and sage observation here. I was just reading an article in the New Yorker about how complex creating antivirals are and how it's generally "one bug, one drug" to treat them. Some antivirals don't even work for more than one form of a specific virus. And so some far-thinking scientists have been and are working on drugs that will work against many more at the same time but it's a hell of a task. And probably hasn't gotten a lot of funding because viruses like the flu come and they go but it's inevitable that after "this" one, more will appear that will upend society and endanger us just as much or more.
    I wish Trump would read an article like this. I wonder if he even could. So many people think that surely there is a magic bullet, a pill already out there, to treat this thing and that's just so not true.

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    1. You're right; he probably can't read, except tweets.

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  6. As you probably know, San Francisco is not Corona-free. The virus is now traveling through the unhoused population while city leaders squabble over whether or not street folk should occupy empty hotel rooms!

    Your mother looked so happy as she weaved away the day! What a tremendous person she must have been. I also adore the photo of your grandmother with book in hand.

    Thoughtful post. Thank you.

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  7. It must be a relief to be living where you. The measures are working!

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  8. I love those pictures. How elegant was your grandmother. That lovely top and the buttoned skirt. My mother was married in 1918. I wonder if she wore outfits like your grandmother's.

    Her younger sister died in the flu epidemic.

    I love your mother's spirit, and what a worker. This whole post is a treat.

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    1. My grandmother was an extremely poor girl from the farm who also worked at May Co., where she learned how to dress and earned enough money to buy and care for that outfit for years.

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  9. Whatever the reason for it, I am happy that your area is doing so well in the pandemic. Except for a few seniors residences, we are not doing too badly here either. Hopefully, when the current despot goes (knock on wood) the deplorables will go back into their caves. wishful thinking I am sure.

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  10. The virus has been slim to none in my county as well. We had a total of 14, with one of those dying. All but one were related to travel. We too have a massive park west and north of us. (about 3000 square miles!) Unfortunately our government, both federal and provincial, has deemed it necessary to close all of our parks for the time being.

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  11. Thoughtful post. Good to see your area is not a hot spot.

    The entire pandemic from first word of the virus has been one mess after another. All the squabbling is a distraction, keeping folks from grasping the depth of seriousness we are facing. Stay home order lifted or not...my gloves and mask will stay with me. The many rule makers didn't get it quite right in the beginning is indication enough as individuals, We have to be smart on the ground.

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  12. Yes, I'm not going anywhere I don't need to be, and mask and gloves at hand. Smart on the ground will save those who are.

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  13. My wife, who reads your blog religiously, passed it on to me. I have to say you write wonderfully! And speak truth.

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    1. Thank you. My father was an engineer with a lot of credentials. He expected us to think in a certain way to have his attention.

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  14. Let's hope your zip code stays virus free.
    Our great leaders bear a heavy responsibility. Despite the WHO being slow to act, there should have been border closures, air, land and sea, with testing facilities at all entry points for those returning from other countries.
    The lack of provision of protective clothing is a scandal of long date, as is the lack of urgency in placing contracts to provide it...that the U.S. - and the U.K. - are reduced to receiving donations from other countries is shameful.
    Where is the provision for general testing and tracing?
    We need to look closely at 0ur societies...all this technology and we can't produce what is needed because of the way our internal trade operates? Appalling.

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  15. I think the generations that came before us had a better work ethic, more discipline and a lower expectation of instant gratification than today's populace. And that's why so many cannot or will not abide by current isolation restrictions that are for the common good.

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  16. Collateral damage is a phrase which INFURIATES me. Essentially it means that the damage (too often death and destruction) has been/is being endured by someone other than the speaker.
    Glad to hear that your zip code is virus free (and this tree hugging lefty would love more parks).

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    1. I think too many will be out and about, carefree as a spring day in May. I hope they prove me wrong.

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  17. I loved seeing the pictures of your Mother and Grandmother. They are both beautiful ladies. I also very much appreciate all that you have written here. The generations before us had tremendous work ethics. You still see it today but I am afraid it is not the same as it was at one time. It has been so difficult, although not surprising, to see Trump encouraging people to protest the isolation and tweeting for more states to call to be "liberated" from the social distancing. All this simply encourages a situation where more will die.

    I am so happy to know that your zip code is Covid free. I hope it stays that way! Unfortunately we have quite a lot in the county I live in and we are still seeing the figures rise everyday.

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  18. Good to hear that your area is clear so far...our neighbour at the back was in hospital for a few days...but as he is busy doing his garden and cleaning his car I don't reckon that he had the present troublesome virus.... hopefully...
    It is spread by those unthinking or selfish people...
    Stay safe and weave!!

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  19. I think grocery stores need to put some things into place for when the next pandemic hits. If there was a policy where certain supplies would be limited to purchase we wouldn't be in the mess with shelves being wiped clean of paper products, etc. I have trouble with this stay at home thing; not the actual stay at home but why some businesses are still open that I don't consider essential (like flooring companies) and others are closed. I followed a "paper trail" of someone on Facebook and saw they had a gathering of 5 families celebrating Easter together in person. And we are not seeing son/family. People are getting antsy. I keep saying that. That worries me more than this virus does.

    betty

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  20. My daughter lives in that part of 44333 that adjoins your zip code. I hope we all keep safe. I was so sad to hear of seven in the Rocky Nol nursing home who died last week. Your grandmother was so beautiful. What year was that photo taken. It looks a bit earlier than after the pandemic...And your mother looks full of happiness and spirit.

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    1. I just noticed a ring on her finger, and I inherited that engagement ring. I'll guess the picture was 1916. My mother was born in 1918.My grandmother was born in 1894. My mother has no memory of that grandmother, only the woman her grandfather subsequently married.

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  21. The dates are interesting, thank you. My mother was born in 1895, her eldest son in 1919. Dates following yours by one year. But I'm the generation before you, in a way.

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  22. Your grandmother at 16 looks to have the weight of the world on her shoulders. Such a lovely young woman.
    It's the trees....they are sheltering you. We need to plant more trees.
    I've decided that when they lift the restrictions on us I will continue to live like this for just a few more weeks. Wait and see what happens.

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  23. Good post, Joanne. I loved reading your insight and learning more about your family. Idaho was one of the states that protested recently feeling that we need to be liberated. It's going to be interesting to see if we see a spike in cases.

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  24. Those are lovely photos of the women who preceded you in time but had the same spirit you do. Life was much harder for most people a generation or more ago. Now we face our own challenge. Who'd have thought it would be like this?

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  25. I personally think family history, attitudes and expectations make us what we are.
    We may think it was our own doing but in your case I think grandma and your mother (and father) 'guided' you along the way.

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  26. It's my opinion that Trump wants to reopen the company because he is losing money on his personal investments. The poor man must be so worried, with only a few Billion $$ left (*~*)
    It's also my opinion that we should all be in less of a hurry to get back to normal. I suggest waiting until there have been at least a month or two with no new virus cases. Do the hard yards now for a better future. Of course I mean this for all countries not just yours and mine.

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  27. At leat Bill Gates is using his money for the greater good. It would be obscene if he didn't. Your grandmother reminds me of Green Eyes.

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  28. Just think what a few less stealth bombers would contribute to eventually having a national health care scheme and investing in saving life not destroying it.

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  29. It is so good that you are in a safe zone and I do hope that it stays that way.

    The virus is here with us. Our hospitals are not full, but our veterans home has been inundated with the virus. They account for most of the deaths. It is heartbreaking. From what I have read, this epidemic will be with us to 2022. Much of my optimism about a possible end sooner was thrown out by what I saw on TV and these people protesting and ignoring the guidelines to stay (somewhat) safe. Many of those will be sick in a few weeks and many in their family will be also and stressing the our health system.

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  30. So fortunate to be in an area with no infections. We have very few but I believe the peak is ahead of us.

    It is far too soon to relax yet. Your fearless leader is so very wrong in what he is advocating and his economy before lives policy sends a shiver through us all. He is incapable of kindness as no one has ever seen him commit this act.

    XO
    WWW

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  31. Loved this post and hearing about your family/seeing the photos. I live in a blue state so I don't think anyone will be opening us up too soon. Our numbers are still rising but thankfully, we've done a lot of testing, too. I've wondered if I would have the courage to quit my job if my company called me back to work before it's safe. Some people will have to make those kinds of decisions, I'm sure.

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    1. That's tough! I wonder what I would do, in the same situation. I did quit a good job once, and decline an even better one to follow my etc. But all the circumstances were different, except the financial instability of the world.

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  32. My zip is half park and happy we are about that. Your Mom was quite the person.

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  33. I'm interested that people want to end the lockdown now even though the risks are so high for their loved ones. There's some kind of reasoning there that I just don't understand. Or did I get it wrong?

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    1. Oh no. You got it all right. One of the screaming protesters showed her very evident grey roots, and shouted she needed to get to the hairdresser to have them addressed.

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  34. Your grandmother was a beautiful young woman. Our governor has allowed the beaches and public playgrounds to open up on a somewhat limited basis. He's obviously a Trumpeteer ass kisser. When "stay in place" is over, no matter when that happens, I will not rush out of the house. I have no doubt that the death rate will spike again without the quarantine.

    Love,
    Janie

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  35. People are saying much the same here - that there should have been much better planning for an emergency like a pandemic, and that the current government is now floundering about trying to overcome the shortage of PPE, ventilators, oxygen and other necessities. Hardly surprising therefore that the UK's death rate is now at least 10 per cent of the global death rate, and possibly much more than that according to unofficial estimates.

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