Finding humor and hope in a crisis

Published 03-19-2020

Many off us are faced with a new normal this week, especially residents of California, Oregon and New York. School and work closures accompanied with uncertainty and fear - not just over this new virus - have left too many Americans unsure of their next steps. But take heart people, there are glimmers of hope, and humor all around us.

Yes, the media is going to push stories about scammers and scalpers. There will always be some. Be smart, and be prepared as much as you can. Buy what you need, and a few treats for everyone. Don’t hoard, if we all work together there is more than enough for everyone to have more than enough. America’s food supply is one of the most secure in the world, but can’t get out of the ground and processed if everyone is getting sick and has to stay home.

It’s a good time to realize that not everything is about us specifically, and our actions do have an effect on those around you. Be a person who can help your neighbor with some extra staples or a phone call if they are in quarantine.

And when you need a laugh... take a quick trip to social media where American’s sense of absurd is still flourishing. Jokes of kids with cabin fever already on parent’s nerves after ten minutes of being home, and memes of beer bottles wearing masks abound. Laughter really can be the best medicine when stress and fear is getting the best of you.

My friends and I have joked that Gen X has been waiting for this crisis their whole lives. “I just want to be left alone” has been the slogan of my oft maligned generation. Seems like everyone may just come around to our way of thinking before this is all over. I’m glad for government and medical justification to continue being a hermit without static from my family about never leaving the house for a change.

And as boomers and millennials duke it out over restaurant reservations and beachfront tanning space, seems like maybe the slacker generation was on to something. Consider us early adopters.

A local friend and I were chatting about our local school closures and she made a great observation. Our grandparents could go fight a war, it’s not too much a sacrifice to sit on the couch and watch tv for a couple weeks. I know sacrifice is a foreign concept to many younger people in our country, at least on the scale that our country is now facing. We’ve been very blessed with so much, a society and standard of living that is unthinkable in much of the world.

Maybe this slowdown will provide a dose of much needed perspective for everyone about what we truly value as a society and as people. Having a healthy economy when this is over is important. Having jobs and a functioning society is important. But maybe it will look a little different than it did a month ago.

Much of our current landscape is.

As I watch press conferences from our state and federal government, I’m both disgusted and hopeful. Disgusted by the reactions of so many, most especially our media pushing actual Chinese propaganda straight from the Communist Party presses. Beyond just the hysterics of their reporting, providing misinformation including fake news that Trump tried to lure a German vaccine laboratory to the US and floating the idea that the U.S. Military unleashed this virus on the world, I’m not convinced our country wouldn’t be better off quarantining the national media and taking away their computers and cell phones. My vote is until after November, at a minimum.

But ultimately, I’m hopeful because the American people always come through. We are creative and kind, and usually pretty brave.

Unless there’s no toilet paper. Then we’re a little nutty.

Last week when store runs caused shortages of hand sanitizer, private craft distilleries realized that their distillate used to make their fine liquors is 190 proof and could be a very efficient replacement when mixed with aloe vera gel. The first company I saw doing it didn’t even charge for the bottles, rather giving them to those in need first, and asking for donations so they could continue to make more. Many of these stories happen every day, in every city and town across America. It is the totality of our wealth. We are our national treasure, not columns totaling dollars and cents.

And it’s not just our people. Businesses and corporations are lending a hand. Pepsi and the USDA, along with other multi-national corporations are partnering to provide one million lunches per week for rural communities struggling with closed schools and kids in need.

While our federal and state governments work out a response to help everyone affected economically, we need to come together for the betterment of our communities. The solutions to this crisis will start on Main Street, not Pennsylvania Ave.

It’s time to get back to the basics, our neighbors and our nation depend on it.