Plague Journal, More Covid Please…
This written by David Leonhardt in today’s issue of The New York Times:
Nationwide, about half of Americans are not wearing masks when in close contact with people outside their households, according to a survey released yesterday by the University of Southern California.
Wearing a mask isn’t much fun. It’s hard to speak clearly, and if you wear glasses, the fogging is annoying. But the inconvenience sure seems worth the benefits.
Study after study has shown that masks reduce the virus’s spread. Yet
millions of Americans have decided they would prefer more Covid — for their communities and potentially for their families and themselves — to more masks.
Those who know me well have cautioned me about the hazards of over generalization. However, these words by Leonhardt, confirm my own observations of the behavior of many Americans in public places. It is hard not to conclude that we are a frivolous, decadent, inconsequential people….
Wear a mask and live, or not, and die. …and maybe you’ll take a family member with you into the “afterlife.”
I had a sobering conversation with an acquaintance several days ago. He lost his father to covid. His dad was a healthy senior citizen, still working full time. His dad came down with a cold, and went to bed to recover. In just a few days he was overcome by the virus and was gone. He said to me more than once in the conversation, “This was so unexpected.”
What tune is apropos for this Friday end of our week? This one I think will take us into the day: Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones.
Paint It Black
I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colours anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
I see a line of cars and they’re all painted black
With flowers and my love both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a newborn baby, it just happens every day
I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door, I must have it painted black
Maybe then I’ll fade away and not have to face the facts
It’s not easy facing up when your whole world is black
No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the setting sun
My love will laugh with me before the morning comes
I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colours anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
Hmm, hmm, hmm…
I wanna see it painted, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black
Yeah!
Hmm, hmm, hmm…
Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it is an uptempo Eastern pentatonic song featuring a sitar part played by multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones. The lyrics are about grief, death, and loss. The song was released as a single on 7 May 1966 in the United States. Through the use of colour-based metaphors, the song’s lyrics describe the grief suffered by one stunned by the sudden and unexpected loss of a partner. It is often claimed that Jagger took inspiration from novelist James Joyce’s 1922 book Ulysses, taking the excerpt “I have to turn my head until my darkness goes”, referring to the novel’s theme of a world view of desperation and desolation. — wikipedia
4 thoughts on “Plague Journal, More Covid Please…”
I would take exception to one of Mr. Leonhardt’s lines, that being:
“…..millions of Americans have decided they would prefer more Covid.”
I don’t believe that wearing a mask or not wearing a mask is a conscious choice for many of these so-called people. They are following both the orders and example set by their cult leader, DT. He has told them that it would be giving into the snowflake libtards to wear a mask. Besides, when DT had the disease it was nothing to get excited about. This aside from the fact that their lord and master was privy to extremely expensive cocktails of drugs available only to the powerful elite.
Now, I realize that I’m not suppose to be mean-spirited in an era of attempted detente across the political aisle, but I was wholeheartedly disappointed that DT didn’t die a ghastly death from Covid. His death would have literally saved the lives of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people. The true believers of his serpentine holiness would have suddenly been subjected to the harsh light of reality and may well have thought twice about eschewing the wearing of a mask.
But the bumbling buffoon survived, thanks to his loyal MDs at Walter Reed. Even so, he has now been forced to exit his place of authority and we can go about attempting to repair the extensive damage wrought by insipid stupidity. Unfortunately we have been left with his legacy of the morons that continue to follow his precepts of maskless interaction with the general population. It will take some time to rid ourselves of both the virus and the lunatics he released into our fold.
Granted the worship of a leader blinds the adherents to the consequences of their choices. Many fervent followers of Hitler died in combat or in the ruins of German cities. Sadly, unnumbered innocent, “unbelieving” bystanders lost their lives in the conflagration too.
Yesterday (Thursday) when I arose, after my morning coffee, I felt a new but pleasing sensation. Moving around a bit I realized what it was: I felt ‘light’, as though a weight I had been carrying was lifted from me, one that I had been burdened with for so long I had forgotten it was there. A burden that had slowed me down, made me feel tired, too tired to engage in anything worthwhile or believe in anything hopeful, had darkened my world as my eyes were always downcast, lacking the effort to look up. Made my ears deaf to anything but dark, unwholesome sounds.
I’m sick of this guy – screw him. He’s gone and it is my fervent desire that the sole mention of him that my hearing will ever suffer again is that he’s wearing an orange jumpsuit.
I know – not ‘Right Speech’, but screw him anyway !
Now, let’s all get together and do what we can to repair the damage we have suffered. Even saying; “Hi” to a passing stranger would be a good start.
Blessings
Yes! yes! yes! A great menace has been banished (for now) from the White House. I felt as if a grey wolf stalking us, has been vanquished by the collective effort of our whole community. And with you, each of us must do what we can to repair the damage, to forge a more perfect union. Your suggestion to express good will at every opportunity is a good one.