My Culture Reveals Itself By Reacting to the CoronavirussteemCreated with Sketch.

in #life5 years ago

I sat down with my strawberry pie in my bowl and my butt on my bed and my laptop on my legs. Those are all the requirements for viewing the show of the decade. Or maybe I should call it The Train Wreck. No, show sounds nicer. This isn’t a show that plays at a certain time of the day. You can catch it on the internet 24/7, and it is ongoing. I call it: My Culture Reveals Itself By Reacting to the Coronavirus.

20200314_002135.jpg

Strawberry picking, before the chaos.

Politics always inspire an out-of-body experience for me. Overall I feel a distance between myself and the ongoing rage of republican vs. democrat—the two ant hills fighting over territory underneath a picnic table. And therefore every night for the past week or so when I sit down to watch the show via Facebook (the best place to see local information and local people reacting), I feel somewhat outside the politics. I am just a spectator watching the politically charged Americans react to the coronavirus.

I try to focus on the local level, wherein my own people reside.

Political Parties Seemed To Pick Teams Early, Or Maybe Just The Conspiracy Theorists Did?

About a week ago—when there were only a few cases in Florida—I first started really devoting time to the show, and it was around then that something happened that was of so much interest I forgot to eat my strawberry pie. It went something like this:

A local reporter for a small newspaper in my relatively small city posted some questions about how the locals feel about the coronavirus and testing. One hundred+ comments later, the vast majority of commenters shouted that she was supporting the proliferation of fake news, and that she was a liberal out to destroy the economy to tarnish Trump.

This struck me as an odd response, given that the lady was just doing her job as a reporter, and not rehashing potentially “fake news”, but asking how the local people felt. Either way she got her answer. I think her article might be entitled “Our City Thinks It Has Discovered The Remedy For Coronavirus: Call It Fake News (And Pray We Are Right).”

All politics aside, it was a display of how untrusting we have become as a society.

The next scene of the show was unfolding in my newsfeed by way of entirely too many memes. They were aimed at controlling the hysteria with words like:

“Don’t Listen To The Media, Listen To Scientists!”

Given that most scientific discussion is actually gathered through media sources for us regular folks, I immediately wondered if all Americans are born entitled to our own personal scientist to discuss such matters. Might I have my own that I have not been utilizing? I wondered if I could request a particular one. Like, say, a male with thin rimmed glasses, two-day old stubble, a lab coat loosely hanging open, and a very austere look of intellect on his face.

I scrolled on because I was getting off topic. The next part of the show revealed headlines of how “Dr. Drew” and Denzel Washington think we should all not worry about the coronavirus. I didn’t click on either link because I was trying to be a good student and take the advice of those memes. Don’t listen to the media. So, if Hollywood thinks Coronavirus is no big deal, then I should think the opposite, right? Maybe those memes were backfiring?

20200309_121359.jpg

I Didn’t Have The Answer So I Scrolled Until Running Into Another Theory

A local man with a cat as his profile picture advised my town that COVID-19 was orchestrated to perform arrests of the deep state that have been the cause of human trafficking. Famous people would be arrested, such as the Pope, and then be put in secret prisons while being announced to have died of the virus. The government will return to a gold-backed system, and Trump as our savior will then return our country to prosperity.

Fast Forward a Few Days

The number of cases in Florida have increased some. The schools have closed, all public events are canceled, and the grocery store employees are working very long hours to keep sparse aisles stocked. It’s like hurricane prep, only this time the whole nation is doing it.

Those “Don’t listen to the media” memes have died down, and the folks blaming liberals have quieted too. (I'm pretty sure the guy with the deep state story is still going though.) There are still a lot of people, probably more than half of the local population, complaining that this is all over-kill. Is it? I have no idea.

I’m just sitting at home, washing my hands like I’m supposed to, and watching the train-wreck show.

Sort:  

I had to explain to one of my friends who was incensed about his son's school closing because he was claiming it wasn't affecting young people anyway. I pointed out that young people can still get it and that his elderly father lived with him and he could pass it on and he might die.

There is so much distrust it there is ridiculous. All fed by the monster of the internet

It is amazing how selfish people are, and how that enables people to filter out infomation that goes against what they want to hear, including news. I get that some are worried about paying their bills, and I sympathize with that, but a lot of people are angey because they are inconvenienced. My cousin has a severely disabled daughter and must stay home through the entire flu season every year, now that is rough.

Hope you all make the best of your at home time.

@porters here on behalf of @NaturalMedicine - I like your attitude to sit back and watch the show! Interesting how it affects people in different countries! Thanks for the take on the US side!

curation.png
If you like what we do, consider delegation or following our curation trail on Steemauto. All are welcome to join us on Discord. We curate all #naturalmedicine posts, with larger votes going to those posted in our community! You can subscribe here.

weelotus.png
This fortnight we're running a challenge where you can win Steem for posting about emotions you want to work on - Emotional Rescue Challenge! Check out the challenge here

Thanks for reading.

Congratulations @ginnyannette! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You made more than 6000 comments. Your next target is to reach 6500 comments.

You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!

I thought I was not affected that much, but of course doing my due personal diligence of washing my hands even more than normal and the such. I thought I wasn't buying into the panic, because it doesn't help change anything and I don't like the feeling.

Still.... when I went to Dollar General a few days ago and the lady that checked me out, coughed into her elbow and then sniffed long and hard right after as she was ringing up my 4 things..... I'm thinking.... ewww.... .and I didn't want to touch the bag handles....... and the next day, I went to pick up some breakfast on the way to my Moms and I swear it seemed the person taking the money sounded very congested, so I gave her the exact change so she didn't touch my credit card or give me anything back.....LOL !!!

I realize the normal amount of colds and flu are going around and if there is a diagnosed case of covid here in my little town I haven't heard it, but I guess being bombarded with it everywhere I turn around has seeped into my subconscious a little bit without me realizing.

I'm still trying to keep it out ! Drats !

Unfortunately it is getting pretty bad here. Hopefully it will not get so bad where you are. People are saying Florida is the next Italy. A high elderly population. We shall see. My husband works at the hospital, so on the plus side he has a job, on the negative side who knows what he is bringing home with him.

I have been almost entirely secluded from society, but I did go to a plant nursery yesterday because it is a place that there are never more than a couple people and way spread out. Well, yesterday of all days the owner comes up to me - a man in his 70s and very much a flirt - and gets right in my face and starts chatting away. I was subtly trying to back away. I don't know what he has, but more realistically, he should be afraid of what I might be carrying.

I didn't think about the areas with large populations of elderly !

I haven't been out all week, but finally did go out. My left knee was crying for some advil and when I was gathering in before last weekend, I did not realize I had none. It got bad enough to make me go out to my local Dollar General. I also went to Walmart very early the next morning, went in the quiet end and got a battery for my car. Mine was leaking acid or I would not have risked it right now. Fortunately, since it was on the opposite end from the grocery section, except for the auto parts clerk, I never got close to anyone and didn't touch anything..... till it came to the credit card pad. I had taken an un-sharpened pencil I had here and has planned to use the eraser in to punch buttons, but it would not work on the screen ! argghhhh ... ha ha.... so I had to touch it and then of course once I got to the car I did the antiseptic wipe, which I can't say I have a lot of faith in and washed my hands and back tracked on the doorknobs and stuff after I got home...... I know it doesn't matter how much I think of, I can never think of it all. I wiped down the items I brought in and etc. Keeping up with all of that makes going anywhere a real chore. Worth it if it saves me, but still.....

I am working at home and feel fortunate that if I mess up and get it, I am not bringing it back home to anyone else.

My aunt next door is over 80, maybe 81. She goes somewhere every day. My uncles says he can't keep her home ! Not good ! ....

Yesterday, the first case was reported in the next city over from me. The cities are very small, so that is pretty much in my back yard. I also know that for everywhere, since so many people have been unable to be tested, that the numbers are a lot larger than reported.

When I went out those two short times, there were plenty of people still out and about.

I have tried to go to my Mom's on Sundays (she's 85) as she is nearly a prisoner at home with my step-dad (who I love) .... who has dementia and is WAY down that rabbit hole now. I feel like to be safe for her, that I cannot go today and it makes me sad for both of us.

I hope your husband will be able to stay safe from it. I admire all the people who are still going in for the others that need help.

Stay safe !!

I have parents in their 70s and a diabetic brother, so they are on my mind. I think they will be okay though. It certainly is a strange time in history, at least for my generation. It is our first real "event" that has effected our home life.

I hope you all stay well. I have migrated over to Hive now. We shall see how it goes over there, but I will be checking in back over here too.

I haven't gone over there yet. There is so much happening in the real world, that thinking of this mess here is something I can't dwell on for now. I still come vote and comment a little but haven't posted in a long time now. I'm not sure what I am going to do and may not make up my mind about it for a while.

Hope you are and yours stay safe as well. 😷🌼

When the radio in Australia said that people under 16 might have zero symptoms, my first thought was of the Emperor's new clothes. It is a show for me except that now I'm siting half way around the world and they closed the borders. Minor detail.

Well, so long as you are happy not coming back for a while I suppose you are set. Hopefully it doesn't get nasty down there. Unfortunately it is becoming less of a show now for me, and more of a jail sentence. We are extremely blessed to be on land and not someone stuck in an apartment.

Yep, it is very interesting times right now and from what I can see we are all self-isolating just because we are sensible.

Yes, and self-isolation does have its positives. There are so many projects we have been putting off to be worked on.

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.23
TRX 0.26
JST 0.041
BTC 95819.68
ETH 3570.69
USDT 1.00
SBD 3.21