ManicRobThrill

Monday, May 04, 2020

The reality vs. the want

It's now the beginning of May; someone I love very much spent her birthday in solitude, as most of us are, still.  Couldn't be with her, which is very sad.  We lost most of March, all of April and I would presume, May, which has always been - traditionally - my favorite month.

This pandemic, while slowed down, hasn't ceased; hasn't dissolved and allowed anyone a chance to truly breathe.  Businesses are still closed - certainly, New York is "closed', by and large.  I just read how a local cafe that I've been to is now gone - permanently, it seems.  Many businesses I've supported over the years are now finished.  If it wasn't directly attributed to the actual illness, it's been the recurring story of "the lease is up - the business has been closed due to the pandemic - I'm not going to be able to renew and keep things afloat".  It's heartbreaking.  Many restaurants and bars; longtime smaller shops - the "mom and pop" stores - are all meeting their final sunsets and it's another indicator of how things have gone - not just because of this nightmare epidemic, but the economic consequences.

People are protesting the necessity of quarantine and social distancing; these are not rational beings.  More bullshit indicators of "individual rights being taken away" - always selfish and not grasping that this is not some bad movie - this is real life and people are dying from a highly contagious virus.  For a moment, I had some misguided thought that people would open their eyes and think, in light of what's happening.  But no - human beings are generally selfish and don't have a concept of "the greater good" or even basic patience.

Whatever happens, I know nothing is going to be the same - it can't.  And it's not like a post-9/11 different, either.  This, I think, has a wider effect that doesn't allow us to go back to where we'd been before.