Chapter Fifteen: How Long Will This Last?
Photo by Emily Morter on Unsplash
June 22, 2020
Dear Diary,
“How long will this last?” seems to be the topic du jour when talking to friends. We have all gone from wrapping our heads around a two week shutdown, to a 45-day shutdown, to whatever we are currently experiencing, which kinda feels like the Wild West, except that when the saloon doors swing open, it’s not a trigger-happy cowboy that anyone’s concerned about entering the establishment, but rather, it’s the bandit who isn’t wearing a mask.
As a Virgo, this inability to plan for the future is particularly excruciating. Planning things, especially with the help of excel spreadsheets and color-coded binders, is what we do! I’m not saying that I’m the master of all plans - I am a terrible interior decorator (unless your taste is mail-strewn minimalism) and I often struggle with long-term plans, like say, what I want to be when I grow up. But, if we are talking about planning a luncheon, or a party, or a vacation, this is the stuff that fuels me and gives me something to look forward to when everyday life feels hard! And let’s be honest, everyday life feels really frickin hard these days.
Further compounding my distress over such matters is the fact that I am turning the big 4-0 in less than 90 days. Lest you misinterpret my distress, Diary, I am not stressed in the slightest about turning forty, as I equate getting older with getting wiser (unless you watch Fox News), but my discomfort stems from feeling stymied in my ability to make any plans whatsoever.
I certainly can’t plan a big party. I certainly can’t plan a grand family vacation to commemorate the milestone. I can’t even plan a technically legal gathering of ten of my besties because they mostly live far away and I wouldn’t dream of asking them to travel in a flying petri-dish to come celebrate me.
So where does this leave me?
More importantly, where does this leave all of us? Business as usual can not thrive, let alone be sustained in this environment of uncertainty. We have all been treading water, while waiting and watching for some semblance of national leadership - a well-orchestrated, scientifically-backed plan to stop this virus. If you think such leadership is a pipe dream, please see New Zealand as an example (especially if you watch Fox News.)
Other than food and basic necessities, who is spending money on anything? It’s one thing to say, let’s open up a few restaurants and barber shops, but we all know that is a small measure of our economy. Meanwhile, all of our major industries (entertainment, professional sports, travel, manufacturing) are on hold or cancelled.
I believe in American ingenuity and I know we can and will pivot to adjust to whatever landscape we are presented with, I just wish we had our own Jacinda Ardern guiding us.
Very truly yours,
Maya