So I was watching a movie the other day and there was this family. They get on a plane heading off on vacation. Friends will be joining them in a few days and they are looking forward to some sun, sand and relaxation. Flights are smooth, connections on time and they land in their destination 24 hours later on March 13 3:30pm to the pleasant smell of warm salt air and the news that the world has just changed dramatically. All north american sports leagues have shut down, international sporting events canceled, youth sports practices suspended, schools closing, the Prime Minister calling citizens abroad to return home. Wait, that wasn't a movie that was the beginning of our spring break! Seriously, WTF!
I guess we all should have seen it coming. There were warning signs all over the world, China, Italy, Japan, but no one did. And I mean no one! Even the experts with all the information didn't see this coming as the international travel, mass gatherings, conferences, were all still taking place right up to that society changing 24 hours. You think I'm exaggerating check this timeline out. https://nationalpost.com/news/how-the-covid-19-pandemic-changed-the-world-in-one-week-a-video-timeline
I guess a lot of it has to do with how insulated life here in North America is for most of us. We just haven't been affected on a real personal level with many of the things that the rest of the world deals with. Revolution, mass food shortages, sweeping disease are things in the news that we take note of, even empathize with, but then are thankful that we live where we live. Even global conflicts Canada has been involved in like our 13 years in Afghanistan just haven't affected the average citizen on a personal level. We have just become very used to going about our daily business effectively avoiding or weathering the storms that affect so much of the rest of the world. I mean Ebola was some scary shit to read about and sure we were hit by SARS but ultimately we seemed to deal with that without much disruption to society. This coronavirus thing would surely be something we deal with and move along.
Well here we are on the last day of spring break 2020 and the nation is self-isolating, borders are closed, domestic travel is restricted and we are all holding our breath hoping we can slow this thing down. Now don't get me wrong, we are not enduring hardship and sacrifice yet, just inconvenience and boredom but we are seeing government interventions and policies put in place that up to two weeks ago would have been unheard of. The goal they say is to flatten the curve. We are not talking about avoiding or stopping the virus we are talking about slowing it down to give our health care system time to react and respond while a vaccine is worked on. Let us all hope that the inconveniences we are currently faced with help us avoid the greater sacrifices that much of the world has already endured due to this virus.
Joeseph Chamberlain, a British politician, was quoted in a 1898 speech as saying "I think that you will all agree that we are living in most interesting times. I never remember myself a time in which our history was so full, in which day by day brought us new objects of interest, and, let me say also,new objects for anxiety." I for one would definitely trade in these interesting times for a boring day on the beach with my family and friends!
