Pandemic... What Took You So Long?

When I was a young kid in the early 1960s, I remember hearing a lot about Russia, the Bay of Pigs, and Nikita Khrushchev. I didn’t know what any of it meant. Grownups back then didn’t talk to kids. We were on our own to interpret what we were overhearing on the nightly news. It all sounded boring, yet scary, except maybe the Bay of Pigs. Porkers floating on their backs in a lake seemed kind of interesting. Definitely not scary. I grew up assuming that Russia would do something sinister to blow up the world. Why else would we be taught in our classrooms to “duck and cover”? The nuns in school told me my bad acts would go on my Permanent Record. If such a thing existed, then why shouldn’t I also be ready to hide under my desk for The Rest Of My Life? Over the years I felt a little less anxious about the Russians, but still sensed that something Big and Bad would happen during my lifetime. And here it is… Worldwide Pandemic. Yikes! I do like that the Coronavirus attacks all people, no matter who or what they are. That seems kind of fair, in a really crappy way. So now what? This is all new to everyone, except maybe a handful of people who were alive over 100 years ago during the Spanish Flu Pandemic. They would have been babies, so I doubt their memories can help us forge on through today. Some phrases have come floating through my brain as I ponder the Pandemic. “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night” (Bette Davis), “Keep your arms and legs inside, and have fun” (every amusement park ride), and “Oh God!” (Veronica Cartwright in “Alien”). I think I’ll buckle myself in…