I wish I could make that sentiment personal. Listening to KFI, which I rarely do, the polls suggest most Americans think 2020 was the worst year they ever experienced.
Actually, I've experienced worse and the flip of a page on a calendar isn't going to change the facts. California, in particular Southern, is in a plague. Bodies are piling up. Ambulances are turned away. Economic conditions are dire. Those of us who care not to die and care about others becoming sick and dying are staying home, even if that is a sacrifice. We don't want to add to the commotion or accidentally need to go to an emergency room.
I met a person from Croatia who was close to her American Citizenship but, due to Trump sourced policy changes, expects another year and a half wait. "I'm afraid," she said. "Everything that's happening here, it's just like before war in my country."
She mentioned the divisive politics, the senseless violence, the lawlessness, the looting, and so on.
How bad is it for me?
I've lost track of what day of the week it is a couple times because I'm no longer within the rhythm of the week.
You may have experienced this if you've worked Monday to Friday, used Saturday for errands and social life, and then Sunday for hikes, museums, getting out. You loose your job and you still keep to the same schedule, perhaps using the weekdays for work search related activities. You still think of Wednesday as "over the hump" and Fridays as TGIF.
I also sense that there's a rhythm to a city and you feel it. Traffic to and from work weekdays, a change on weekends to a slower pace, so that slacking off during the week can make you feel guilty that you're not doing much, but not so guilty on the weekends, and not at all on New Years when "noone" is working.
In Covid-19 (19-20-21) there are so many people working long hours, weekends when they don't normally, who are fighting this war against a virus, you can feel awful about not getting out there to help in some way. Yet it is not advisable.
I feel especially sensitive to ambulance sirens, wondering if another person who has Covid is on their way to a hospital or if the person may have another condition but not get the medical care needed because emergency is so overwrought.
I also check a statistics database to see if any of the stores my senior friends shop at or other locations have staff who tested positive and tell them.
So what I hope to do today and the next is post some things I stored in my phone to clear it out and also put on my editor hat and edit some posts I wrote with enthusiasm but not so much attention to punctuation.
Oh, I, like you, need the crisis to be over. So you know what I don't have to say!
