COVID 19 Thoughts - COPY, EDIT, and SHARE BROADLY

I’ve been working from home for 6 weeks - no airlines, no hotels, no new cities. 100% grounded and typically in 6 weeks I would have logged 40k miles and 40+ cities. I miss my team, my customers, my friends and @American Airlines and @Marriott hotels. Now I do it from my home office and everything is virtual. Society will never be the same after #COVID19.

Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed. Water and power is shut off to businesses who disobey orders. Disneyland and Disneyworld close indefinitely, the entire Las Vegas strip closes. 3 weeks ago panic buying sets in and we have no bottled water, no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towels, no hand sanitizer. Shelves are bare. People resort to fighting over product and stealing others supplies. People are lined up in the 100s hours before opening to get into Costco. AZ schools are mandated to be closed the rest of the school year. Q3 grades become Q4 final grades. Commence online “distance learning”. Graduation cancelled, prom cancelled, sports cancelled.

Self-distancing measures on the rise:

Tape on the floors at grocery stores to help distance shoppers (6ft) from each other and plastic sneeze guards are erected to protect cashiers. Store hours are limited. A limited number of people are allowed inside stores at one time and limits are placed on high demand items. Parks, trails, beaches, playgrounds, gyms are closed, entire cities are under lockdown. Haircuts, nail care and other personal grooming services on hold indefinitely.

All sports events and seasons cancelled. MLB, NCAA, Wimbledon, even the Tokyo Summer Olympics.

All concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events are cancelled.

All weddings, family celebrations, birthday celebrations, holiday gatherings are cancelled.

All churches and dine-in only restaurants are closed. Easter to be celebrated in our living rooms via church livestream.

Curfews are enacted in some cities and gatherings beyond your immediate family are prohibited. Fines are established for breaking the rules. Police helicopters circle announcing on loud speaker for large gatherings to disperse and go home. 

There is barely anyone on the roads. Citizens are highly encouraged to self-quarantine, only leaving their homes for essential supplies and to wear masks and gloves while outside.

Essential service workers are terrified to go to work. Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families. PPE supplies are low and medical personnel are struggling to stay safe. Elective surgeries and non urgent medical appointments cancelled. Cancer patients must make choice between going in for treatment and risk catching virus or stay home, miss treatment and risk progression of their cancer.

With all the time stuck at home we are desperate for new things to keep us entertained like interesting new series on Netflix.  We all see posts of parents and people that are learning new things, new languages, and taking this time for self development. I applaud them - for me, I am just trying to survive and focus on the little things. I have eaten dinner every night at the dinner table with my kids, played outside til dark, and realized that so many things are not important any more. It’s the afternoon rush to the pool, snuggling on the couch between homeschooling kids, and work. Planted a garden and reconnected with my kids, my parents, my family, and my friends who I never saw because I was always gone. I am still working 80+ hours a week (thankfully) but forced to do it virtually.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, officially declared by the WHO on March 11th, 2020.

I’m writing this because one day it will show up in my memory feed, and it will be a reminder that life is precious and not to take things for granted as simple as fully stocked store shelves, lunch with a friend, or watching your kids play sports. Someday I will be up in the air again, but will never forget how important being grounded is. 

We are all in this together.

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