Difficulties in obtaining professional assistance aggravated by lockdown restrictions – Morning statistics – Experts’ regrets about the introduction of agriculture – Spring break – College life among the Baby Boomers – Singular attitudes towards younger generations from a senior citizen – My mother at the assisted living facility – Evening statistics
The connection has been fixed.
Contacting Verizon was very troublesome. I kept getting directed to a text messaging conversation with a “Tech Coach”, and whenever I tried to respond to his texts I kept getting “Message not delivered” prompts from my cell phone. I know that the hours of live operators have been cut on account of the virus and I was prepared for a long waiting time – with that one would not quarrel. But this method of putting customers through a veritable maze of call options and leading to false assurances that you are will be in contact with someone, and then getting transferred to an automated message system, is unconscionable. The service I received when I actually spoke with a living person was quite good, but it took multiple calls made over the course of an hour to reach him.
This morning’s statistics are: # of cases worldwide – 350,536; # of deaths worldwide – 15,328; # of cases in U. S. 35,241; # of deaths in U. S. – 473. This is an increase of over 30% incidence of cases worldwide and more than 100% in the U. S. over a period of three days. It is possible that the increase in U. S. cases is in part due to more rigorous testing and that we are now less under-reported than we had been previously. The U. S. is now in third place, behind China and Italy – not that this is a contest we’re particularly desirous of winning. In China the virus seems to have stabilized (several provinces now no longer have active cases), although it is premature to declare victory there; there are still over 5,000 cases still active (i.e., neither dead nor recovered). The mortality rate there to date is about 4%.
There are a number of experts who have explained that the virus is linked to our domestication of animals as we made the transition from nomadic life to agriculture and who have deplored such innovations. I think of myself as being fairly conservative in my outlook, but harkening to a past so remote seems to me too much of a good thing. Of course, the methods in which they disseminate these pronouncements depend on certain implements that require a stable habitation on the part of the inventors – such as, for instance, a system of writing, the methodologies for creating paper and ink and writing tools (and in later centuries, electronics as well), an economic system for ensuring general access of such materials, an education system that promotes literacy, and so on. How these pundits expect our species to have developed these while still remaining in the hunter/gatherer stage, goodness only knows; and I must confess that the author of these lines was not sufficiently interested to find out.
This is the time for spring break, and many students flocked to Fort Lauderdale, despite the warnings for them to stay away. As one of them stated outright, nothing was going to interfere with their plans to party. There were several comments in Facebook along the lines of “What a selfish generation!” But I remember my college days very well, and I can assert with some confidence that the Baby Boomers at that age would have done precisely the same thing. I realize that as a senior citizen it is my sworn and solemn duty to disparage everyone younger than myself, but I find it difficult to believe that the Millennials or Generation X were as coddled, pampered, and indulged as my own generation. What miserable days I spent in the University of Maryland dormitory, unwilling witness to a continual parade of behavior at once petty and wild, unbridled yet mean-minded! I remember in particular the shameless way in which my fellow-students lavished praise and adulation on some of the worst tyrants imaginable, and on Mao Zedong in particular – and it was a completely disinterested servility, for they had nothing to gain by flattering these dictators and already possessed all the benefits that prosperity, security, and health could bestow. They were dirty as well. Our residence hall was routinely trashed on almost a daily basis, leaving the mess for hired janitors to clean up. They would do this even on days when they marched in protest against the destruction of the environment. This was not hypocrisy in the ordinary sense of the word; they honestly were unable to see the slightest connection between the two activities. We senior citizens are most emphatically not in a position to criticize later generations for being self-centered.
How much harder things are for younger people than they were for me! I did not have an easy time of it by any means, but I was eventually able to secure a job that paid well and offered a measure of security, and my experience was not unique. When I bought my house, the rule of thumb given was that the house price should be between three and four times one’s annual income. That certainly would not hold good today. People just starting life are saddled with more debt for their education and more expensive prices for shelter (either by rent or mortgage) than I ever had to contend with. And the situation will worsen. Both Democrats and Republicans have jettisoned all sense of fiscal responsibility; they squander money from the national treasury with a fine, bold abandon and would blush at the idea of paying their debts. Now that a real emergency has come to our nation, people are beginning to realize – very dimly — that an empty treasury during a time of crisis is not what might be called an asset. Trump continues to print more money to provide what he describes as a “stimulus” and in this way buys the present at the expense of the future.
I visited my mother today in the assisted living facility. To enter I took a temperature scan to ensure that I did not have a fever – a sensible precaution, for if the virus affected anyone within this building filled with elderly and infirm seniors it would be deadly. I’m a bit surprised that no assisted living residences have been affected yet – perhaps they have, and the fact just hasn’t made the headlines. The scan said that my temperature was 97.4⁰; I always was a bit cold-blooded.
My mother has been afflicted with dementia and aphasia (speechlessness) for years and now lives in a dim, twilight world, with only occasional flickers of recognition of familiar faces, such as those of my brother and myself. Perhaps it is for the best that she is not cognizant of what is going on. I do not know even if she is aware that she recently became a widow. She continues to be in reasonable health, despite a complete lack of activity; she has no heart or lung issues.
At 8:00 PM the statistics are: # of cases worldwide – 378,287; # of deaths worldwide – 16,497; # of cases in U. S. – 43,667; # of deaths – 552. Our mortality rate at this stage is well below the world average, but on the other hand no one in our country has fully recovered. Italy continues to be hard-hit; over 60,000 cases, with a mortality rate of nearly 10%. The number of deaths does appear to be slowing down, but while that is somewhat encouraging news it has to be weighed against the growth of the number of cases in general: 42% in less than half a week. Many states have “stay-at-home” orders now, but in practice this means to avoid going to restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, and other places where people ordinarily gather in large groups. It does not apply, as yet, to going outside for exercise, as long as people keep six feet from each other. Will it come to the point when such stay-at-home mandates will become more restrictive and prevent us from leaving our homes except for purposes such as grocery shopping or medical appointments? One other exception: people can go to restaurants for takeout or ordering food delivery. That too may change; and in any case fewer and fewer restaurants are offering these options, preferring to close altogether. I’m thankful that I taught myself how to cook!