Comfort food

by Jon Sullivan - 2020-03-13 - Opinion

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It's going to be okay. But we're all in this together. So be cool out there. Work together. It's going to be okay.

Being my parents child, my response to the approaching global crisis is to cook food and preserve it for the coming hard times. So I have an extra 4 gallons of chicken curry in the freezer now. With extra ginger and garlic. Because antiviral.

I had to go to the DMV Weds, and the grocery store to get curry ingredients yesterday. It was noticeable how much people are trying to be polite through all this. It seems to me everyone is coming together in solidarity rather than hysteria. There is a sense that we'll all suffer hardship, and none of us is going to be the asshole who makes it even worse by being a dick.

There was a brief window at the grocery store where they had some toilet paper. A sign said the limit was 2 packages per customer. The guy in front of me in line had grabbed 10. They would only sell him two. I could see that he wanted to freak out over it and make a scene. He also had diapers and water. No doubt he was focused on getting his family and infant through this crazy time. He didn't make a scene. He pleaded politely for a bit, but gave in when that didn't work.

We're all in this together. And it's going to get much worse. In a global pandemic, we're all the same tribe. The virus, and the associated economic fallout, will cross all boundaries and no one will be able to avoid it.

Let's get real. Let's not dismiss it. "Most people have mild symptoms" is not reality, even if true. Reality is, even if you don't get deathly ill or die, you may spread it to someone who does. Being a good human right now means not spreading the virus and killing people. For real. Don't kill people. And even that is only a small part of it. This is going to be huge.

The CDC worst case scenario is that as many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die without things like canceling events. The school closings will slow the spread and potentially save hundreds of thousands of people from flooding hospitals. It will save lives. But it will also cause a daycare crisis. And a day care crisis will cause an employment crisis. Same with working from home. And canceling events. And not going to malls or restaurants. Businesses will go bankrupt because people are doing the right thing and staying home. The alternative is worse.

So let's be cool out there. We're all in this together. For now the global crisis means we're all one tribe. And it's going to be okay.

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