There are decades where nothing happens, and then there are weeks where decades happen.
-V.I. Lenin
At the beginning of 2020 I had a conversation with my wife about how I felt like we were overdue for a global/national calamity. I told her how it felt like we had been on a long run of peace and prosperity in the world and that I wondered if there would be some global economic downturn or world war in the 2020s. I didn't realize that the global calamity would happen sooner than I thought.
Despite it being in the news since early January, like most things Coronavirus happened gradually and then suddenly. I recall being in the Seoul airport in mid-January and reading about how the first cases in South Korea were thought to have passed through the airport just days before. Then we were in Hawaii in February and hearing about a Japanese tourist who spent a week in Waikiki before testing positive. Still more cases popped up in DC as I was there for a work trip in early March. Despite these little overlaps it seemed like something that very likely wouldn't impact my life.
As early March progressed into mid-March it started getting more and more attention - from both the media and me. Then all of the sudden it exploded in a 24 hour period a week ago. It seems much has changed since then.
The day it all seemed to come to a head was Wednesday the 11th. Over the previous few days it became increasingly clear that the virus was spreading throughout the country, and spreading fast. That evening in the course of about 30 minutes the following happened: 1) The NBA postponed their season, 2) The president announced a travel ban on all personnel coming from Europe, 3) Tom Hanks announced he had tested positive. I think any of those things would have made it feel more real to me, but all three happening at once was a total shock.
The next day more universities cancelled classes, the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament was cancelled and more and more companies announced they would be sending their employees home. That afternoon when I got home from work my wife went to Costco to stock up on some essentials. She reported that it was a madhouse and the biggest shortage was - oddly enough - Toilet Paper.
On Friday morning we got word that our daughter's school would be closing at the end of the day for three weeks. I prepared to begin teleworking starting the next week, and all of the sudden it seemed like every event was being cancelled.
During the weekend we made a few more runs to the store for more essentials (booze & spaghetti) and we planned for what we would do if we were stuck it our house for awhile. Our house guests for the following two weekends both cancelled their trips. Since then we've barely left the house besides for walks around the neighborhood. I've teleworked the past few days, and so far we've handled the isolation pretty well.
It feels a bit surreal. But we have no idea how long this might last, and while we've stocked up on food, the stores are still open and have plenty of food. Hell, we can still order a pizza for delivery. So it's not like things are dire by any means, but we're trying to be a cautious as we can. After all, I do have the ass-mar.
I wonder how this will play out and how this is remembered. If the social distancing works and it fizzles out quickly will people look back on the stockpiling and TP hoarding as a major overreaction like we do with the people who built fallout shelters before Y2K or will these be days that future generations ask us about as they study it in school. If it's the latter, it's why I blog.
