Tuesday April 28 2020
I saw a comment someone made online about the lack of school shootings. Can’t totally recall the full comment, but it had a stat that for the first time in something something, there was not one school shooting in March. The message was meant to be striking – it takes a full shutdown for this achievement.
I suppose the reason I didn’t click it to memory is that these types of comments need serious fact checking. I believe there wasn’t a shooting in March, easy enough. But to say we’ve had non-stop shootings for a defined period is sloppy stats. I have no intention of trying to minimize the horror of this, yet I’ve hardened some over the sensationalism of the press and general social media OMGers. It’s hard to know what’s true unless you do a deep dive into the facts.
Speaking of, the conspiracy theorists are crawling out now and looking for the light. A comment made by a guy I used to work with was about how we never hear about climate change or global warming anymore. It’s been cured by the corona virus, he says with sarcasm. By “anymore,” he means merely a few weeks, not months or longer. It annoyed me, this declaration of being more woke that the rest of us. If you don’t agree with him, you’re a sheep. Stupid and dull-witted, needing to be led.
Governor DeWine addressed the conspiracy theorists in today’s Ohio update. He’s incredulous that these people exist and felt that they could only hold their beliefs because they haven’t talked to anyone who’s lost a family member to COVID.
I’m seeing two different types of conspiracy theorists. One group is in full denial that the virus even exists; that if it does, it’s only as another flu strain. There is a governmental or big business – or both – plot to crash the economy so as to take over and make us all socialists or some such bullshit.
The other sector of conspiracy nutters believe the COVID strain exists and that it’s super contagious and as lethal as we’re being told. But the virus was created in a lab in China under Trump’s orders. Result is the same as the other theories – crash the economy and mold our economic systems to fit the needs of the powerful.
We, the common folk, are under duress. This part is true. We’re scared and we don’t know what the coming weeks and months are going to bring. I wear gloves to pump gas and a mask to shop for groceries. DeWine wants us to wear a mask anytime we’re in the vicinity of another person, whether at work, shopping, or going to a park. All the time. I can’t bear the thought of something on my face for hours at a time. It can’t be just me who has this issue.
Kroger is mandating all employees to wear masks now. I saw this on Sunday when I was getting the weekly goods. The cashier was wearing a mask, as was the bagger. But only over their mouths. Their noses weren’t covered. I looked around. Nearly all of the employees shared this fashion statement.
As a society, we’re reasonably fucked here.
In the news today was a doctor, a young woman, who had recovered from COVID. She committed suicide yesterday. I couldn’t bring myself to open the online story, this topic has become an emotional trigger for me lately. But a quick scan of the Facebook comments below the article made me cold. One idiot actually typed “who cares?” Why even leave a comment, you stupid fucking moron. What is so impossibly awful about your life that you need to spread the hurt with your personal brand of nastiness? This is toxic, absolutely. While the rest of us are trying to determine best practices for dealing with this new world, we’re undermined by this underbelly community of people.
That where we see the separation of classes; the us vs. them. It widens the chasm. I’m resentful of the people who are gathering together in protest of the mandates, while these people hate those who are sheltering in place because, in their minds, we’re helping to crash the economy. Extreme actions that are polarized.
But we can all probably agree on one thing. The flat-earther nutballs can go back to their underground bunkers and just shut the fuck up. The only ones listening to your mess are other nutters who think they know more.
Donnatopia 