My mother-in-law is Swiss. She came to the United States with my father-in-law, who is Hungarian, when they were in their 20’s. Fast-forward 50+ years and they’re both still here, going back to Europe every year or two to visit friends and family. She’s said on many occasions that she loves the United States and for her, it’s home. Last summer, as we were getting ready to depart for our Italian Adventure (part I), I asked her why she chose the US. She simply replied, “the United States is like a teenager – colorful, bold, unruly and maybe even a bit petulant… Europe is like an old man – traditional, set in his ways, slow”. She then said, “I choose the teenager” and I replied, without missing a beat, “and I choose the old man”.
Her analogy has crossed my mind countless times over the past year (how spot-on she was!) and even more frequently in the past few months. Watching the complete catastrophe the United States has become during this pandemic has been unbelievable, sickening and utterly heartbreaking. Her ‘teenager’ has had an awful attitude, refused to do the right thing, stamped his feet, thrown a fit, bucked all the rules, ignored pure common sense and been an all-around idiot, as teens sometimes are. But, he’s still not getting his way and his problems have only worsened, yet he continues to rebel…
We’ve all heard and seen so much lately about our fellow citizen’s “freedoms”. Freedom to wear, or not wear, a mask; freedom to go on a ‘hard-earned’ summer vacation (amidst an increasing, worst-numbers-to-date pandemic); freedom to disregard social distancing; freedom to gather in large groups; freedom to keep a restaurant open, indoors, despite a state-wide ordinance saying you cannot.
It’s painfully ironic to me that our people have been more concerned with their chosen, most prized, personal “freedoms” than with doing what it takes to eradicate (or even slow!!) this virus and get back to our regularly scheduled lives. But, really, in the battle to assure you can non-mask, assemble-as-you-wish, recreate, eat out where you want and so on, you’ve lost more freedoms than the few that have been gained—for instance:
- You are no longer “free” to go to a bar and enjoy a cool drink
- You are no longer “free” to listen to live music at said bar
- You are no longer “free” to eat indoors at a restaurant
- You are no longer “free” to see a movie, in a theater
- You are also no longer “free” to see live theater
- You are no longer “free” to go to a swimming pool at your leisure, without a reservation and socially-distanced lounge chair
- You are no longer “free” to grab groceries, get a haircut, go to the bank, or ride on a bus without a mask
- You are no longer “free” to go to your work/office
- You are no longer “free” to see a concert
- You are no longer “free” to see a professional (or high school or college or, heck, even grade school) sporting event
- Kids are no longer “free” to participate in said sporting events
- Kids are no longer “free” to attend school regularly
- Kids are no longer “free” to play on a playground
- Kids are no longer “free” TO BE CHILDREN, to play with one another and learn in a group setting that’s not on a goddamn computer screen
- You are no longer “free” to travel internationally
- You are no longer “free” to have a 2 parent working family as one must stay home and don her homeschool teacher hat, indefinitely
- Elderly people are no longer “free” to safely and comfortably step foot outside their homes
- You are no longer “free” to visit the state fair, or any festival for that matter
- We are no longer “free” to have the Olympics
- You are no longer “free” to have a simple graduation, prom or birthday celebration
- You are no longer “free” to appreciate a fireworks show on 4th of July
- You are no longer “free” to make an appointment at the DMV; teens are not necessarily “free” to get their license on their 16th birthday
- You are no longer “free” to hug friends—an elbow or foot bump will have to do
Ought I go on? Maybe you’ve ‘won’ a freedom battle or two – defying a mask regulation or getting together with 15 friends with your f-it attitude – bravo, bravo to you!
All this, while the entire world looks on and belly laughs at the idiocracy of the United States. The country that has long been seen as the superpower of the earth can’t even pull itself together to manage a virus. Even more flabbergasting -- THE WINNING PLAYBOOK has been written, proven and handed to us by our friends in China and Europe. They jumped into the deep end of the pool first and did the deal… locked down (like, seriously locked down – not the half-assed attempt we made) and now they’re enjoying a splendid summer (albeit with some modifications) as we flounder and resist and rebel in our oh-so-teenagery way.
Then there’s all the chatter about “leadership”. What leadership?! We’ve absolutely failed on a national level (Trump, you suck), but also on a state level (Newsom, you equally suck) and even on our home turf—at a city/town level. Being from Lake Tahoe/Truckee, I’ve wanted to vomit with how horrific our local “leadership” has behaved. They are more concerned with amassing the almighty tourist dollar than about the care and safety of the poor people who live and serve in these mountains towns. People are petrified to leave their homes as swarms of tourists overtake the streets, lakes, rivers and restaurants—more than our area has ever seen before… and in the midst of a pandemic, and in the midst of our “numbers” being the worst they have been to date. The exiled people of my town are having to form a coalition to try and have a voice with our leaders to insist that they shut things down again. It’s dumbfounding, utterly dumbfounding that no leader will do the right thing, lock down, with federally-mandated rules (imposing fines, monetary fines, remember how well that worked when folks first bucked the seat belt, helmet and no driver cell phone use laws?) so we can beat this things and move on with our lives.
But hey, United States, keep being that moody, sulky, dramatic, argumentative, difficult ‘teen’ and round and round we’ll go, hoping this pandemic will magically disappear.
Regardless of how serious or not serious you think this situation/virus is, leadership/government will assure we continue to swirl in this cesspool of crud until numbers come down. Do you really think you’re going to win this staring contest? It’s pretty clear our government/leaders can keep stripping and stripping our ‘freedoms’, for years and endless years, until this virus subsides (more irony, though, that they won’t be the bad, responsible, sensible parent who enforces the hard, stay-at-home disciplines needed to finally get COVID under control). And that cure-all vaccine everyone’s pining for? Prepare yourselves for that next US drama… the anti-vaxxers will get on their high horses, refusing to put this panacea into their or their children’s bodies, or will instead find their doctor friend who will illegally sign paperwork saying they did, just as they have with regular vaccines since their kids were born – oh wait, did I just type that out loud?? Here’s an even better idea: push your viewpoints aside and get on board with getting the numbers down, it’s a terrific and wholly-organic solution!
Folks, honestly, there are no short cuts with this one. We have to do the deal but I just can’t fathom that our country will ever unify, completely unify, and work together to stop this thing. This is not being negative or defeatist, it’s a dose of real, sad truth.
So now I’m cozied up, arm and arm, within the security of my ‘old man’. While I’m in another country surrounded by many of the uncomfortables that accompany a foreign language, culture, health care system and people, I feel more calm, safe and hopeful than I’ve felt in a long time. I am downright giddy at the simple prospect that my son may attend school – real, in person school – in 4 weeks, he may get to play some sports, run around with his classmates-- even if there are modifications to abide by. I feel even more peace in the notion that should Coronavirus wave II arise, I reside in a country that will take swift and decisive action, however difficult, to eradicate this enemy and come out on the other side better for it.
I’m really not sure what the ultimate solution is—but maybe someone ought to take the United States car keys and cell phone away, ground him, deprive privileges, sit him down for a big ‘ole time out. Whatever the consequence for his cantankerousness, all I know is that it’s time he take a page from the old man’s book.
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