Nope.
We could never have been more wrong.
This virus is merciless.
Here's today's stats:
Worldwide:
Cases - 12.3 million
Deaths - 555,000
US:
Cases -3.17 million
Deaths - 135,000
OC:
Cases -22,088
Deaths - 376
So yeah. We're still going strong.
Notice how much the OC numbers have jumped in just over a month? Yeah, we're a bunch of dicks. California, Florida and Arizona have seen the highest jumps. Wonderful. My state is one of the hot spots now.
There's zillions of things flying around about this thing. I find it hard to follow what's true and which news sites are probably the most reliable, but the jist of it is - we're fucked. And it's not going away.
I'm so tired you guys. I'm tired of waking up every morning spinning from my ever growing anxiety. When I sleep it's an escape. Then I start to wake up and remember the shit show we're currently living in and I don't want to get up. It's been like 4 months. 4 months of growing fears, anger, anxiety, death, sickness, grief. It's not stopping. I reached out on Facebook yesterday asking my people what they're doing to cope. Lots of beautiful suggestions filled up my comment thread and I NEED to do something. I thought spitting out a blog is a start. I write to cope. I write to share. I write to let people know they're not alone and hopefully bring some humor along with it.
So here we are. 2020 is still dragging our asses through the glass. How about a little dark humor with memes and gifs to cope eh?
I'd like to ask when wearing a mask became political? It's a fucking piece of cloth you stick on your face for a bit. Instead of listening to our dumbass prez or some jackass spewing off on social media - how about listening to the healthcare professionals and scientists that say WEARING A MASK SLOWS THE SPREAD. We could get back to actually re-opening our economy if you put a goddamn piece of cloth on your face. And you know what - say you hate it - say you think it's a rouse - fine. Then wear it to be a decent human because most of the population is listening to the experts and wearing them. And employees such as grocery workers, and healthcare folk, and basically everyone working in the public has to wear them - like all day. So stop being a bitch and wear it. When our family heads out we have our new phrase - MASK UP!
My heart goes out to the restaurants right now trying to stay afloat. So - Virus hit - they had to shut down and could only serve take-out or delivery. Some got creative - made up meal kits and what not. Then come summer and CA is like "Ok cool you can all open up again, as long as you do xyz to be safe". So they did - banners were hung "WE'RE OPEN!" My food places I follow on social media were like YAY! That lasted like a week and our numbers kept skyrocketing so CA was like "Just kidding, you have to shut down again....but actually if you can do patio seating that's ok...but no more bars..." Now streets are closing and restaurants are making makeshift patio seating. Downtown Fullerton, Downtown Orange have jumped on board. I even drove by Norms the other day and they have an easy up with plastic chairs and tables in their parking lot. It looks like a backyard BBQ that rented some equipment. The banners that drape a few restaurants keep changing from "OPEN FOR TAKEOUT" to "OPEN FOR DINE IN!" to "OPEN FOR PATIO SEATING". It's so confusing and ever changing. I'm super impressed with how these restaurants are trying to keep up.
Although I bet the sign business is booming right now.
Everyone is losing their shit blaming everything is the reason we're still where we are. It's the protests! It's parties! It's re-opening too fast! It's inflated numbers! Hey assholes - did you ever think it's just the fact that we're in a global pandemic of a virus we have no cure or vaccine or even meds to fight the damn thing? That maybe the fault lies in you jackholes who think this is a hoax and are giving 0 fucks? Oh and the fact that our country is currently under the guidance of a clown running a government like a circus and we have 50 different states doing 50 different things and NOTHING IS WORKING?
One of the really weird things is coming into work. Basically the entirety of Chapman is working remote. There's a scattered few of us who come to the office, but not many. And my office - No one. I come in 3 days a week, 2 work from home. It's become a trippy routine. I pull into the almost empty parking lot. Head in, mask in hand. Walk into my building and into my side where I'm the only one. It looks like the rapture hit. Everyone's desk is untouched. Papers, personal things, etc just sitting there as if they vanished into thin air. Chapman finally did let peeps bring home some equipment so you'll see the missing monitor and chair every now and again, but it's like the place is frozen in time. I blast my music through my computer so the eerie silence is broken. The only person I see is when the gal comes through to empty the trashes once a day. Once in a while a rogue co-worker comes in and scares the crap out of me. No one has access though except me and emergency peeps but folks can get special permission to come in for a bit. Usually they give me a heads up but sometimes not and make for a scene from a horror movie of me calling out "Hello?!?" from my office.
It's just so damn awful. So many of my friends livelihood is working in the entertainment industry. Theatre, Opera, Film. It's just stopped. They have no jobs. And no light in sight about coming back. It's heart wrenching. I'm seeing some things pop up - Zoom Play Readings which I've been grateful to be a part of, drive in movies are making a come back, drive up concerts may be a thing, all kinds of online and virtual stuff which is cool. But still...it's not a living. My poor Grandad who has had to uproot his life and move out here to our angry state so that my dad can take care of him just wants to watch baseball. Seriously the one thing my dad and Grandad love to do is watch baseball. They can't. I can't ever see these sorts of things coming back until there's something to fight this damn thing. WHEN WILL THAT BE?!?!
I'm calling myself out here - and going to try to cope better than I have been. If I have any brilliant epiphanies I'll share them here. But this shit ain't going away. It ain't getting better. It's ok to not be productive and have your depressed days and ugly cry sometimes, but I've been living there and I just can't anymore. Time for some self-care. Stay safe and sane friends!!!! Love to you all!!
Here's to hoping:
But seriously...probably going to just be more of:
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