Stay Home, Kittens. Stay Home

Well, nothing like a GLOBAL PANDEMIC to put shit into perspective. Monday’s post – pre-written when I still thought we’d have friends from out of town driving in to stay with us for an extended weekend of wine tasting…you know, five days ago (don’t worry we canceled everything) – will probably be the last non-coronavirus tinged posted on Surrenders for a while.

I’ve started working from home this week to self-isolate. I hope you are also staying home, too, if you can. We’ve been given a time machine with Italy, but it only works if we take action. You don’t need to go to the bars. You don’t need to go to the gym. You don’t need hang with your buddies because – whatever – you all feel fine. That’s the whole damn point, you can feel perfectly fine while infecting potentially every single person you pass for 2-to-14 days before showing any symptoms yourself whatsoever. I’d say, don’t be that asshole. But it’s more like, don’t be that killer asshole.

Now I could also rail (and rail, and rail, and rail) on the stupidity and absolutely criminal incompetence of That Orange Turd in the White House and his administration. But the man who says, “I don’t take responsibility at all” about the abject failure of the United State federal government’s coronavirus testing program speaks for himself.

But what I want to say instead is that these coming weeks, months, fuck knows how long will require radical empathy. It will require caring about more than just ourselves, but everyone. With a virus like this, we are all only as healthy as the least protected people among us. This is exposing the perfect storm of so-called American exceptionalism laid bare for its brutal inadequacy. Our health care system? Not ready. Our nationalized paid sick leave? Non-existent. Our national paid family leave? Also not a thing. Our universal health care? Nope, because apparently it’s “socialism.” Our support for hourly workers about to lose all their income for an undetermined period of time? Good luck, hope you live in a progressive blue state with adequate unemployment benefits. Our support for our senior citizens? Jesus, please don’t visit your grandparents in the nursing home for the time being and hope you have a good one that follows all the hygiene guidelines despite all of the caregivers being woefully underpaid.

I don’t know what the world will look like on the other side of this. So much misery is comings, it makes my chest hurt when I think of the potential numbers. I only hope we can emerge a little kinder and a lot smarter. Be safe, stay well. Take care of each other. And stay the fuck home*.

*Again, if you can. Some people cannot and by being out unnecessarily you put their lives and their loved ones lives in even more danger.