We’re Living History

It’s been hell the last few weeks, and we’re not out of the woods yet. But we will be soon. Have faith, my friends.

When this pandemic first hit us, we were all gung-ho to buy food, stock up our refrigerators and freezers, and start cooking Then we realized, as one Facebook post I saw, which was of an open refrigerator door with a sign in it, state, “You’re not hungry, you’re bored. Close the door!” That sign was right. How much are we going to eat!

Then we started watching everything we could click on in Netflix and Amazon Prime. I was even watching movies with sub-titles from Russian flicks, and some other movies with the worst acting I have seen since Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000. Oh, I almost forgot that epic Netflix original, Tiger King. After watching all seven episodes, I said to myself, what in the world did I just watch? The funny thing is, it’s true! These people actually thought they were doing a good thing. I told a local pastor, next time you preach about saving humanity, you better say, well… not all of humanity. For the record, I know in my gut that Carol Baskin did it!

We then cleaned. We cleaned the entire house from top to bottom, with those blue plastic dish gloves on. We cleaned out the refrigerator, the stove, the washer and dryer, the bathtubs and showers, our rooms, and the toilets. Speaking of toilets, why did you buy enough toilet paper to last until the 100th anniversary of the moon landing?

And, finally, we have all been glued to our televisions, computers, iPhones, and media devices watching the 24-hour news broadcast cycle about the pandemic, and it’s the same thing. Yes, it is serious. Yes, we need to take precautions. Yes, we need to stay home and wash our hands, wear our masks, and sanitize everything, and yes, we are all doing those things, thank God.

But now what?

I can’t eat anymore because I’ve gained weight, and I’m afraid to go outside because maybe the local Gestapo will see and report me. My hair has grown back to my 1970s disco era length, I’ve watched every movie on Netflix, twice, my house is still cleaner than Mr. Clean’s head, and I just can’t watch those so-called news shows anymore and those glorified news people’s spin on the pandemic’s developments. You know how it goes; it’s their fault, it’s your fault, it’s everyone’s fault, and we’re all doomed! They just ask the dumbest questions. Please, why can’t you just deliver the news and sit down? Joe Exotic says more sensible things.

So what does one do during the rest of this crisis? If there is any silver lining to this current pandemic, it’s the alone time, the downtime that all of us have been forced to accept, and to step back and smell the roses. In other words, we all have time on our hand.

What you should do, and don’t laugh, is sit down a write a novel. Okay, maybe not a novel, that’s hard, I know, but write something down about what you are living through. Why? My sister, Christine, said it best. We’re living history right now. This is something that we’ll tell our grandkids about, just like our grandparents told us about the depression and World War II. This is a pivotal time not only for America but for the entire world. Think about it? The entire world and humanity are involved in this battle.

Unfortunately, when we get through this crisis, and we will, we’ll probably just go back to our daily routine, and soon this pandemic will start to fade from our minds, and soon we will forget.

In the next distant future, I can guarantee you that documentaries will be made about this period in our lives. They’ll tell the story how it happened, the facts, the conspiracies, who was to blame, the medical health care heroes, how the restaurants and other businesses suffered, and all of the other people who helped get us through this traumatic event, but will you remember how you felt or what you did? Write it down so years from now when the grandkids ask, “How was it Grandpa when the world shut down?” you will have it ready for them, and they will surely never forget.

Stay safe and healthy, my friends, and I will see you soon, at a nice quaint restaurant that is booked solid!