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America Gets Sick.
The glow of the Christmas tree illuminated the living room where I now sat glued to my laptop watching YouTube. I typically don't spend too much time on the site. However, the news reports we're enough to drive me to feast my eyes on the new danger. There was a flu in China that was growing more serious America sat just a few days away from 2020 and it looked like it was going to start with some excitement. Scanning the site, I'm seeing Chinese citizens in a place called Wuhan, confined to their homes, singing songs, in what I assume is some type of communist solidarity. The scene is so foreign to me, I close my laptop, and file it away as "couldn't happen here."
My beautiful, very pregnant wife waddles in, "what are you up to Andre?" "Not much, I was watching YouTube, have you heard about this virus in China?" I know she has not. Like me, Fatima does not spend much time concerned with anything outside of our family. "No, is it serious?" "It does not look to be, probably more hype than it's worth." I instinctively downplay any hard news, Fatima grew up in Iraq, she is used to hard news, but she is still easily excitable. At this stage in the pregnancy, I dont want any unneeded drama in her life. Fatima was weeks away from birthing our second child. Our son Dieter, six, was preparing for what would be his sister. Yes, we were one of those couples. I dont understand couples who wait to know the sex. I am a planner by nature. It would drive me nuts not having everything not already mapped out.
I eeked out an existence for us as a real estate investor. Ive done well for our family, we own several rentals, and occasionally, I still work with a client or two. We lived in a quintessential southern California suburb, for all intents and purposes, we lived a decent life. I am a typical surburbanite guy. I work out, I work, I make my wife pregnant. She takes them to Karate and various other soccer mom type activities. Fatima pads back over to me, "while you're wearing your tinfoil hat about that virus, see if you can order me some more of that chocolate I like?" Never missing a beat, "I have that chocolate right here girl!" Fatima laughs, "Yeah, well that chocolate gets me too fat," pointing at her very pregnant belly.
January 9 - I'm on twitter writing tweets that nobody cares about, scrolling to the search section, I see the following. WHO is now looking into a cluster of pneumonia-like cases in Wuhan China. My jaw drops. This is the same place I was just reading about in December. Maybe this is more serious than I thought. I tell myself, I better keep an eye on this. Fatima comes downstairs around this time, I tell her, "baby, the WHO is talking about that virus in China, it may be serious." She gives me that classic uninterested look, tosses me my car keys, "be useful and get Deiter from school," with a wicked smile on her face. I abandon my twitter world and go do as ordered.
January 23 - Pretty much a typical day as any other day. The report from the WHO a week or two before has me uncharacteristically plugged into the news. I almost can't believe my eyes watching the cable news networks. Ive been not watching, so I missed that two days ago on the 21st, they began scanning for this virus in American airports. Cases were detected in Thailand snd Japan. It's logical, based on air travel, that it will reach America now. This is no longer jus I t a China problem. Digging through the headlines, I stumble on the bombshell. Washington state man becomes the first US confirmed case. Flipping the channel, I come across the report that China is sealing off entire population centers and travel is being restricted. I turn the TV off at that news. Fatima is upstairs with Dieter. I decide its best to keep this news to myself. No need to worry about this more than I should. If Im honest though, I have a really bad feeling about this.
February 2- A few weeks have passed, and the situation has not gotten any better. I happened to be out showing a property, which I rarely do, the radio announced that some sort of travel restriction was being enacted. I am dumbfounded at this revelation. I have never heard of our nation shutting travel down like this. What is going on? The WHO has declared a public health emergency, the virus is now in Germany, Australia, Japan, Thailand and the list just went on. Im pulling up to our home on the outskirts of LA. I'm sitting in the car still listening to the news on my satellite radio. Fatima is due any day now. Again, I decide to keep the info to myself.
February 25- Watching CNN in the office next to our new daughter Delilah's room, so much has happened. First off my daughter was born on the 14th, we are so excited, it was a traditional birth and it went off without a hitch. The Trump administration declared a public health emergency, apparently, this will give him more authority as if he needs more authority. The scientist are saying that more people are dying of this than SARS. If you remember that scare. It was heavy on the scare, and light on the results. I have no doubt that people are hearing that reference and thinking it's no big deal. At any rate, I know that I can't keep this news from Fatima any longer. I have to let her know so we can plan as a family. Turning off the TV and heading out of the room, I know exactly where to find her.
"Hey baby, do you have a second?" Fatima glances up from our child, that new mom glow, and transfixed stare all over her face. "What's up Andre?" She queries rather curious. "Do you remember that virus in China I was looking at in December?" I ask laced with a sense of impending gloom. Chuckling a little she says, "you mean that tinfoil stuff you do when you think im not looking?" I laugh at this, she can be a real ball-buster. "Well, yeah, only its not so tinfoil and a bigger problem than you think." This I can tell has hit a nerve. "What do you mean, it's a bigger problem?" She is glaring at me now and continues, "isn't this just a Chinese problem?" I elect for brutal honesty at this point. "No, Fatima. It's not just a China problem, this virus has spread." "Spread to where?" She demands. I look at her with the same love in my eyes, as the day we met and reply, "its everywhere baby, its here, its global." I spent the better half of two hours explaining everything I knew.
March 30- To say our lives have changed, would be the biggest understatement ever. Throughout this month, we have had a whirlwind of changes and events happen that make it well known, that this COVID-19 is a real problem. The CDC has issued guidelines for safety. The entire way we think about life here in California and America at large has changed dramatically and overnight. We learned of cruise ships full of sick people, we began wearing masks, the schools have all closed. Everyone is worried about what will come of the country. Americans are largely out of work. Not just in California, but multiple states have now ordered people to stay home. Can you believe it, just stay at home? The only business now is essential business. The civil servants, and grocery stores, any, can't do without business remains open. Most small business has been closed.
Fatima and I have never been better. I can't say if its the crisis or just us, but we are working as a team. We have had to adjust to new struggles. Most of the grocery stores in our area have very little of what we want, and new rules, on what we can get. Lots of people have of course turned to the internet to shop. Even that is being impacted. People are getting rich off of toilet paper now. I know that sounds crazy but you can't find much in the way of paper products anywhere. The stay at home orders has only exacerbated the chaos, while also mitigating the spread of the virus. It feels like my entire neighborhood is home and not working. Social media is ablaze with speculation and rumors abound about this or that. It's really a tragedy to see all the confusion.
April 29- There isn't much to say about April other than it is pure chaos. Somehow the idiots in government think a global pandemic is somehow over because the economy wills it. There are plans in states and cities to reopen the states for business, by Easter at that. It does not play well in science. To make matters really worse, if you know the bird we call politics, its two wings are made of the democrats and republicans. My wife and I have always avoided any politics with a passion. For good reason, it would seem. The two tribes promptly picked issues of the pandemic and made political hay out of everything. It was abusive to reason to watch it. No matter what you stood for, common sense, science, the greater good, you were labeled as some sort of the wrong thinker by a republican or democrat.
May 30- We are not going out for anything but the food at this point. If April was chaos, May was utter anarchy. The country and the world just seemed to burst at the seams with crazy. The virus got no better and in fact, it appeared to be getting worse. The science behind the virus was uncovering more and more dynamics about the virus itself that only added to the chaos. Was this a bat? Was it manmade? Nobody really had an answer. Trump has taken to blaming any organization that appears against him, all while the deaths in the country reached over one hundred thousand. To add to the crazy, we now had an invasive species of hornet, appropriately dubbed murder hornets to deal with. All of the kids who would normally be in school are now learning over the internet. I am losing my mind keeping up with the fact that im essentially a teacher and a student.
What would America be without its racial tension? Once again trigger happy cop, killed another black man in the streets for all the camera phones to see. It truly was a terrible video and death. This of course brought the protest movements out. You guessed it, black lives matter, and their kissing cousins, ANTIFA. So to add to the bubbling chaos, they burnt and vandalized, rioted and swarmed, any population center that would have them. All in the name of justice for George Floyd. The changes that we're coming about were swift and took everyone paying attention by surprise.
June 30- I can only describe June as the month that all the hubris came home to roost. Nobody has cared about the science or really putting an end to the virus. Most Americans are now vastly unemployed and living off as government-funded stimulus package. Nothing really came of the stop killing us police movement, so the rage was turned to statues and political jockeying. All of this while the virus rages on across the world. Most people have taken some type of side. It could be mask no mask, real vs fake, republican versus democrat. Fatima and I have been staying out of the fray. We simply watch our family and keep our opinions to ourselves. What does it matter anyway? As we roll into July, the idea that states were going to reopen for business is now just laughable. The virus has sprung up in nearly every corner of the country and it's not going down, it's getting bigger. The government has become so dysfunctional, they argue over anything and everything possible. All while the people suffer and await the next calamity.
© Rising Darkstar
My beautiful, very pregnant wife waddles in, "what are you up to Andre?" "Not much, I was watching YouTube, have you heard about this virus in China?" I know she has not. Like me, Fatima does not spend much time concerned with anything outside of our family. "No, is it serious?" "It does not look to be, probably more hype than it's worth." I instinctively downplay any hard news, Fatima grew up in Iraq, she is used to hard news, but she is still easily excitable. At this stage in the pregnancy, I dont want any unneeded drama in her life. Fatima was weeks away from birthing our second child. Our son Dieter, six, was preparing for what would be his sister. Yes, we were one of those couples. I dont understand couples who wait to know the sex. I am a planner by nature. It would drive me nuts not having everything not already mapped out.
I eeked out an existence for us as a real estate investor. Ive done well for our family, we own several rentals, and occasionally, I still work with a client or two. We lived in a quintessential southern California suburb, for all intents and purposes, we lived a decent life. I am a typical surburbanite guy. I work out, I work, I make my wife pregnant. She takes them to Karate and various other soccer mom type activities. Fatima pads back over to me, "while you're wearing your tinfoil hat about that virus, see if you can order me some more of that chocolate I like?" Never missing a beat, "I have that chocolate right here girl!" Fatima laughs, "Yeah, well that chocolate gets me too fat," pointing at her very pregnant belly.
January 9 - I'm on twitter writing tweets that nobody cares about, scrolling to the search section, I see the following. WHO is now looking into a cluster of pneumonia-like cases in Wuhan China. My jaw drops. This is the same place I was just reading about in December. Maybe this is more serious than I thought. I tell myself, I better keep an eye on this. Fatima comes downstairs around this time, I tell her, "baby, the WHO is talking about that virus in China, it may be serious." She gives me that classic uninterested look, tosses me my car keys, "be useful and get Deiter from school," with a wicked smile on her face. I abandon my twitter world and go do as ordered.
January 23 - Pretty much a typical day as any other day. The report from the WHO a week or two before has me uncharacteristically plugged into the news. I almost can't believe my eyes watching the cable news networks. Ive been not watching, so I missed that two days ago on the 21st, they began scanning for this virus in American airports. Cases were detected in Thailand snd Japan. It's logical, based on air travel, that it will reach America now. This is no longer jus I t a China problem. Digging through the headlines, I stumble on the bombshell. Washington state man becomes the first US confirmed case. Flipping the channel, I come across the report that China is sealing off entire population centers and travel is being restricted. I turn the TV off at that news. Fatima is upstairs with Dieter. I decide its best to keep this news to myself. No need to worry about this more than I should. If Im honest though, I have a really bad feeling about this.
February 2- A few weeks have passed, and the situation has not gotten any better. I happened to be out showing a property, which I rarely do, the radio announced that some sort of travel restriction was being enacted. I am dumbfounded at this revelation. I have never heard of our nation shutting travel down like this. What is going on? The WHO has declared a public health emergency, the virus is now in Germany, Australia, Japan, Thailand and the list just went on. Im pulling up to our home on the outskirts of LA. I'm sitting in the car still listening to the news on my satellite radio. Fatima is due any day now. Again, I decide to keep the info to myself.
February 25- Watching CNN in the office next to our new daughter Delilah's room, so much has happened. First off my daughter was born on the 14th, we are so excited, it was a traditional birth and it went off without a hitch. The Trump administration declared a public health emergency, apparently, this will give him more authority as if he needs more authority. The scientist are saying that more people are dying of this than SARS. If you remember that scare. It was heavy on the scare, and light on the results. I have no doubt that people are hearing that reference and thinking it's no big deal. At any rate, I know that I can't keep this news from Fatima any longer. I have to let her know so we can plan as a family. Turning off the TV and heading out of the room, I know exactly where to find her.
"Hey baby, do you have a second?" Fatima glances up from our child, that new mom glow, and transfixed stare all over her face. "What's up Andre?" She queries rather curious. "Do you remember that virus in China I was looking at in December?" I ask laced with a sense of impending gloom. Chuckling a little she says, "you mean that tinfoil stuff you do when you think im not looking?" I laugh at this, she can be a real ball-buster. "Well, yeah, only its not so tinfoil and a bigger problem than you think." This I can tell has hit a nerve. "What do you mean, it's a bigger problem?" She is glaring at me now and continues, "isn't this just a Chinese problem?" I elect for brutal honesty at this point. "No, Fatima. It's not just a China problem, this virus has spread." "Spread to where?" She demands. I look at her with the same love in my eyes, as the day we met and reply, "its everywhere baby, its here, its global." I spent the better half of two hours explaining everything I knew.
March 30- To say our lives have changed, would be the biggest understatement ever. Throughout this month, we have had a whirlwind of changes and events happen that make it well known, that this COVID-19 is a real problem. The CDC has issued guidelines for safety. The entire way we think about life here in California and America at large has changed dramatically and overnight. We learned of cruise ships full of sick people, we began wearing masks, the schools have all closed. Everyone is worried about what will come of the country. Americans are largely out of work. Not just in California, but multiple states have now ordered people to stay home. Can you believe it, just stay at home? The only business now is essential business. The civil servants, and grocery stores, any, can't do without business remains open. Most small business has been closed.
Fatima and I have never been better. I can't say if its the crisis or just us, but we are working as a team. We have had to adjust to new struggles. Most of the grocery stores in our area have very little of what we want, and new rules, on what we can get. Lots of people have of course turned to the internet to shop. Even that is being impacted. People are getting rich off of toilet paper now. I know that sounds crazy but you can't find much in the way of paper products anywhere. The stay at home orders has only exacerbated the chaos, while also mitigating the spread of the virus. It feels like my entire neighborhood is home and not working. Social media is ablaze with speculation and rumors abound about this or that. It's really a tragedy to see all the confusion.
April 29- There isn't much to say about April other than it is pure chaos. Somehow the idiots in government think a global pandemic is somehow over because the economy wills it. There are plans in states and cities to reopen the states for business, by Easter at that. It does not play well in science. To make matters really worse, if you know the bird we call politics, its two wings are made of the democrats and republicans. My wife and I have always avoided any politics with a passion. For good reason, it would seem. The two tribes promptly picked issues of the pandemic and made political hay out of everything. It was abusive to reason to watch it. No matter what you stood for, common sense, science, the greater good, you were labeled as some sort of the wrong thinker by a republican or democrat.
May 30- We are not going out for anything but the food at this point. If April was chaos, May was utter anarchy. The country and the world just seemed to burst at the seams with crazy. The virus got no better and in fact, it appeared to be getting worse. The science behind the virus was uncovering more and more dynamics about the virus itself that only added to the chaos. Was this a bat? Was it manmade? Nobody really had an answer. Trump has taken to blaming any organization that appears against him, all while the deaths in the country reached over one hundred thousand. To add to the crazy, we now had an invasive species of hornet, appropriately dubbed murder hornets to deal with. All of the kids who would normally be in school are now learning over the internet. I am losing my mind keeping up with the fact that im essentially a teacher and a student.
What would America be without its racial tension? Once again trigger happy cop, killed another black man in the streets for all the camera phones to see. It truly was a terrible video and death. This of course brought the protest movements out. You guessed it, black lives matter, and their kissing cousins, ANTIFA. So to add to the bubbling chaos, they burnt and vandalized, rioted and swarmed, any population center that would have them. All in the name of justice for George Floyd. The changes that we're coming about were swift and took everyone paying attention by surprise.
June 30- I can only describe June as the month that all the hubris came home to roost. Nobody has cared about the science or really putting an end to the virus. Most Americans are now vastly unemployed and living off as government-funded stimulus package. Nothing really came of the stop killing us police movement, so the rage was turned to statues and political jockeying. All of this while the virus rages on across the world. Most people have taken some type of side. It could be mask no mask, real vs fake, republican versus democrat. Fatima and I have been staying out of the fray. We simply watch our family and keep our opinions to ourselves. What does it matter anyway? As we roll into July, the idea that states were going to reopen for business is now just laughable. The virus has sprung up in nearly every corner of the country and it's not going down, it's getting bigger. The government has become so dysfunctional, they argue over anything and everything possible. All while the people suffer and await the next calamity.
© Rising Darkstar
