During this time of lock-down, I think we should take time to reflect about where we are going in life and also take time to appreciate our loved ones. Going through life, we sometimes take for granted our friendships and relationship with others. We always assume that the next day will be just as normal as the previous one, but that is not always the case. Tomorrow is not a guarantee. As is pointed out in the New York Times article, “Plague or no plague, there is always, as it were, the plague, if what we mean by that is a susceptibility to sudden death, an event that can render our lives instantaneously meaningless.” This possibility should makes us focus on the things that truly matter to us, rather than waste time on things that are of no importance. I can personally think of many times in which I have wasted hours just scrolling through my phone, or watching YouTube videos, while taking the people around me for granted. Even though the coronavirus has taken the lives of many already, and will certainly take the lives of many more, it may serve as a wake up call for the people that have just being going through the motions in life. It may help them to see how precious life is and how easily it can be taken away from us.
As far as the cultural response to the coronavirus, it has changed dramatically from what it was in the beginning to what the response is now. In my own social media feed, I would see posts by people saying that the virus was aggrandized by news outlets and that the virus was no big deal. I must admit, I had that same line of thinking myself. When I initially learned about the outbreak in Wuhan, and later in other parts of the world, I just thought it would go away eventually. Even when some cases started popping up in the U.S. I still thought that the virus would be taken care of rather quickly. In a way, I was like one of those townsfolk that Camus refers to in his novel “The Plague.” As Camus states in the first part of the novel “A pestilence isn’t a thing made to man’s measure; therefore we tell ourselves that pestilence is a mere bogy of the mind, a bad dream that will pass away.” I certainly thought that this was a “mere bogy of the mind” that would eventually pass.
Currently there have been some protests by some people wanting places to reopen. Many have criticized these people for not caring about the health of others. I personally understand where their coming from and understand the frustration they may be going through. Many people have lost their jobs and many are losing their small businesses. I personally know of someone who has a restaurant business and is going through some pretty tough times financially.Another friend of mine, that worked in a restaurant, is also currently struggling to pay his bills. Some are making a strong case that we should reopen the economy, and others are saying that we should stay at home until we find a cure for the virus. The way I see it, we are in a “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” type of situation. The lock-down will, and probably has, led to an increase in suicide rates, stress related heart attacks, in-home abuse going unchecked, and delays in treatment for people going through other health related issues. An opening of the economy will, however, lead to more deaths at the hands of the virus. This is the “absurdity” of life that Camus refers to. We want to fix everything perfectly but we can’t. We lose either way. For me it seems like the only thing we can do is pray and, in Dr. Rieux words,”‘…fight the plague…. with decency.” We must do what we can with the people closest to us and with the people in our community.
When, or if, this virus is contained, I don’t believe things will go on business as usual. Life is going to be weird for quite a while. Its funny, in my mind I have this fantasy that we will go back to the normality of the past in just a week or so. The reality, however, is that its going to be a while until that happens.
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