Pandemic Chronicles

For most of my life as a common man, I have lived with one reality: I will never understand how the world works. I will never understand the complexity of power, money, and human motivation. I don’t know why people do strange, crazy and insane things. Only occasionally do we get the answer to the question of why things are the way they are. 

What I do know is this: the line between a lie, a half-truth, and the real truth might be blurry, but it’s still a line not worth crossing, especially in a time of dire emergency. Words have consequences. And if you are one of the many millions who watched the HBO show “Chernobyl,” you know what happens when lies become the narrative. Innocents pay the price — a big price. 

Time and time again, we see our elected leaders, our legislators and those whose job it

The Coronavirus Pandemic is on our doorstep, whether we like it or not. Between outright dismissal (crazy) and panic (understandable), there is a middle ground of being cautious. And that is the ground on which I am walking, and I am paying close attention to what the scientists are telling us*. Conversely, I am not paying too much attention to television news anchors or general media reporters. (Speaking of reporters, I have been hugely disappointed by the Stat News coverage of coronavirus. This is something they should be good at, but at best, I think they have been mediocre on the current crisis.) 

In addition to being obsessive about washing hands and generally avoiding touching surfaces, I am doing something which is very difficult for me: not hugging. I am a hugger. I love people. I believe in the human touch. But hard times mean hard decisions. As