Pandemonium and the World

Photo by Justin Main on Unsplash

It’s 4 am and I can’t sleep, my mind swirls around the pandemonium that is going on with the COVID 19 virus.  At the same time, I feel “insulated” in my “safe little world”. I shop for groceries every 2-3 months at the Scott Air Force Base Commissary. Having gone about a month ago, I am in no fear of running out of staples. My husband, Mike, is recently retired and no longer takes the long trek from the Forest Park MetroLink station to Scott twice a day.  As a Realtor, while some things (like showing homes) has to be done in person, a lot of what I do can be safely done from my home office, like negotiating contracts and building inspections which can be done via phone calls, texts, emails and electronic signatures, 

I know I am among the fortunate ones. While I’m in the over 65 age bracket that is deemed more vulnerable, Mike and I are in reasonable health and should be able to weather the storm if we come down with the virus. At the same time though, I worry about friends and family who are older and aren’t in good health.  At the back of my mind, I recall coming down with Mono when I was a freshman in College many, many years ago. When I complained that I knew NO ONE who had Mono, so how could I possibly have gotten it, my family doctor simply said “You were in large auditorium class with 100-200 students, and someone who had it sneezed in your direction, ”--- a lesson learned that applies today.

While it is unknown the full extent of the havoc that the virus and its aftermath will have on the world’s financial status,  businesses are already limiting their hours, laying off staff and closing down. I wonder which ones will survive and which will never be the same even if they reopen. Mike saw an article that suggested buying gift cards to small businesses that could be used when they reopen after the virus has passed, but many may not reopen.  Others have sent me pleading emails asking me to please use their drive thru and carryout services until they are able to open again, so they don’t have to close completely. 

I wonder how other small businesses would even have the ability to provide any services?  Beauticians, barbers, nail salons – it would be impossible for them to serve customers from home or to provide a “carry out” or “delivery service” option. Also, they would need to break the social distancing rules to service anyone. There are just too many jobs and careers where it would be impossible to work from home or to do your job.

Shopping now is based around perceived necessities, not “nice to have” items.  “Nice to haves” sit on store shelves; the companies making them have decisions to make - keep producing so the items will be there when the shoppers come back, or slow down production and lay off employees. No one knows what season it will even be when the shoppers return, nor whether or not they will have the income to purchase “nice to haves” at that point.  The cashiers and employees at the stores that are still open wonder if the next customer, will expose them to the virus?  Will someone sneeze in their direction?

My sister in California is under  “shelter in place” orders. She can go to the grocery store or pharmacy, see a doctor, and use drive thru and carry out restaurant. Her only other resource that is still open are the local parks where people can walk and play by themselves or in small family groups.  A friend in Florida, who has bronchitis, is self isolating and ordering delivery of fresh fruits and other foods online, while a friend in St Louis is self isolating with friends delivering things to her door.

The “normal” we knew has left us. We are in a “new normal”, but with no idea what the next new normal will be.  Several years ago (1967 to be precise based on a study by Stanley Milgram), a prevalent philosophy was that we were only 6 degrees (or six people) away from anyone in the world we wanted to know.  Now, with the onslaught of social media and internet connectivity, that has been reduced to 3 degrees, through 3 main networks – family, friends and work using social media (based on a study done by the French mobile carrier O2).  Perhaps it’s time to revist the 6 degrees of separation philosophy with a new mindset that everyone within those 6 degrees is my brother or my sister and should  be treated as such. 

As I ponder all this, I think back to Noah and the Flood and to the other times in the Bible when God’s people turned away---other times when catastrophes happened, bringing them back to God.  In the still of the night, I wonder if this is a wakeup call from God that we need to heed. One telling us to stop being so self-centered and to take better care of our world and the people around us.  Telling us that all people are loved and when one person hurts in one part of the world, it affects all of us, not just “those people over there”.  Dale

Click here for a prayer for those flooded with too much information during these troubling times.