I'm also grateful my daughter's college sent kids home. Dorms are no place to weather something like this.
I never said we should do nothing. Just that we're not going to be able to keep this shut down as long as some think.
You can't open it all up and do nothing. You can't keep it closed up until the very last case is over. The answer is somewhere in the middle. The hard part is figuring out where.
You are underestimating the grief, worry and anxiety keeping everything closed down is causing as well. There is a cost. People are losing jobs and will lose homes. People are losing health insurance. I get that this is needed for now. But It can't go on for months like some suggest. There is a cost to doing nothing. There is a cost to doing everything. There is a cost to doing something. People at a higher pay grade than myself will have to figure out the optimal approach.
Some people's lives will be consumed just by the shut down. They will be affected as if a forest fire went through their homes.
I don't think this is forever, I think we just need to give the world leaders, Dr's and scientists the time and space and stillness to formulate a strategy and if preventing a surge does that then that's what has to happen. This is awful and I don''t think anyone is underestimating issues but an out of work parent is better than orphaned kids because then what happens. My husbands grandmother and 2 sisters were orphaned during the 1918 Flu pandemic - it was catastrophic, let's not repeat it. I think everyone should go back to older generations and let them share the reality of how much humans can endure. 'm calling my 90+ aunt today because she is a spitfire
As for me, I survived unemployment, homelessness, gas lines, foodstamps and the like that came from the recession & stagflation late 70's-80's. I was 14 when AIDS hit and that was terrifying but we survived that too, we lost many and people were angry at, it seemed, everything and everyone but we all learned and eventually there were treatments and medicines but at the beginning being saved was unimaginable. We also made it through 911 with a new set of normals, the shock was horrible but once it wore off we adapted. We all recovered after the recent housing mess, it was terrible but American's made it. I'm glad I'm old enough to settle my kids and share with them the truth that sometimes life just demands a reboot and the faster they learn that being adaptive is the key to survival the better for them. No sense in raging against it - just think for yourself and regroup. They are learning the skill of working from home and that's not necessarily a bad thing, their future employers will know that the kids who get though this without imploding are made of real grit they can be a telecommuting workforce. Thats good for businesses because there is bench depth being cultivated.
I have great faith that we will all figure our way out of this too. I believe they do have cures in our midst but that there isn't enough right now because who can prepare for something like this - so we need to just buy time for the experts and sit still so that the very sickest can be treated. We need to sit still and wait for financial crisis intervention because it will come. We need to sit still and prevent a surge in sick where they can't be helped because then healthy family members will care for loved ones and get sick too and then things explode again - no thanks.
My own mind tells me that this illness is a slow burn so once there is enough approved medicine in supply and tests to get to people early it will become a manageable situation, but we just aren't there yet so we all just need to sit still and be patient. The 1918 Flu came back in 2009, my kid got it and nearly died but they gave her Tamiflu and antibiotics, she was in quarantine and she survived. My son just got it too but Tamiflu saved the day again, fever gone in a few days, I am grateful. The 1918 Flu is now seasonal Flu and we have adapted because humans are smart and incredibly creative. We just need to sit still while things take shape. Now this is not really what American's like to do, we are built to press on and such but sometimes it is necessary.
Our leaders are trying to walk the line between saying we'll get through this without encouraging recklessness - that's not an easy line and leads to conflicting messages. Maybe we should all just call our older family members and ask them what else they lived through and how. I'm sure they'd enjoy the chat
