For
the last three months I have been in a voluntary quarantine. As soon
as I heard about the Coronavirus and the first cases were announced
in Seattle, I went straight to my PCP and in our short-hand lingo,
discussed triage, supplies and what it all would mean for me, as I'm high-risk. Having
worked in a tertiary care facility for four years, I knew that I was
way down on the list for any kind of care, other than palliative, and
in five minutes, I knew that I would be staying indoors for the
duration of whatever this was, until a suitable vaccine was cobbled
up, by our health industry.
I
just had no idea that beneath the layers of what seemed to be a
functioning (albeit, a dysfunctional one) nation, lay fault lines
that were well-nigh insurmountable and that, moreover, the
Powers-That-Be would not be swayed by a mere Pandemic to let their
Better Angels out to save the day. No, all this lay ahead, to be
peeled back in an ugly and rapacious manner that becomes uglier and
meaner each day.
In
early March*, when it seemed that we would have most of our work
force staying “at home”, with the exception of the essential
workers, and it was being bandied about in the House and Senate
regarding Incentive checks and PPP for small businesses, there was
also discussion about rent and mortgage “forgiveness” that would
allow people to stay in their homes or apartments if they were
furloughed. It was called H.R. 6515
and introduced 4/17/2020. This was to take care of folks to make sure
that the homeless population didn't worsen, and to keep PEOPLE IN
PLACE, during the Pandemic.
*Not precisely sure of the time lines, or when this was first talked about.
I
hate changing tracks like this, but I must at this juncture; one of
the reasons I haven't blogged as much as I used to, as everything has
overwhelming, but this, this is too much. My fiancé
came home the other day from work (he works for the DOD and IS
essential) and had a small children's bicycle, and a kids' hot-wheels
toy in the trunk. I asked him where they had come from.
We, of course, have no children. We're going to fix them up and give them away; it just breaks my heart to see them.
It
turns out that there is an apartment complex about ½ mile from our
house, and it is for lower-income people. Our dog, Ripley, always
runs over there and plays with all the other dogs when he gets off of
his chain, or out of the house; we're familiar with the people there.
So, James told me that people are being evicted right and left there.
There are toys, clothing; kids' clothing, furniture, all piled up out
there. I'm just enraged. What happened to all this “forgiveness”
of rent? Is it because we're living in a Red State, but this doesn't
translate to a Black or Brown State? Did the money just disappear
into some fat cat's pocket up there in Columbia, or Raleigh, or
wherever?
The toys are well-used and also well-kept. The children obviously were proud of them.
Every
one of those toys is some kids' ruined dream; a failure on the part
of this country. We can't teach them, we can't house, feed, or clothe
them. What is wrong with this society, and what do we have to fear by
teaching everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, to the best of our ability,
to be the best that they can be. NO child should have his or her
dream, or ideal kicked to the curb by some money-grubbing fat bastard
who doesn't need another goddamned dime from the American Public, or
from anyone, period!
We have no way of knowing where the families may have gone, or if they're homeless. We're in a small town. So, they're probably in Greenville, or Spartanburg.
The Pandemic laid bare the fault lines that may have remained hidden for five years, or a decade. This
country has become a weakened shell; a former chimera of itself. Our
infrastructure has rotted to nothing. Bridges collapse daily, killing
people in cars trying to cross them. Dams burst, flooding towns; two
in Michigan burst last week. We have a golden opportunity to put
together another CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) to re-build our
infrastructure, yet, our government is so corrupt with nepotism and
incompetence and revolving door-ism, if Trump doesn't like the cut of
someone's jib that nothing gets done, except some more GOP judges,
who are unfit to judge dog shows are packed onto benches, because
right-wing matters. If Trump doesn't like the news, he either lies about it, or he lies about what he just said, claiming it was "sarcasm". Who does that?
My baby Glenn, wondering why Mama's crying.
I've
said this before and I'll say it again; two of the finest Americans
who were at total opposites of the spectrum as regards politics are
no longer with us and I'm talking about my parents. My father used to
joke about how he was to the right of the John Birch Society and my
mother used to say she was a bomb-thrower (Anarchist, for those not
in the know), yet, we had some of the best political discourse around
our dinner table that I'll never forget, and I'm so goddamned glad
they're not here to see this mess of a country. I have a passport and
don't think that I'm not thinking about maybe packing it in and
making it back to the Auld Sod, as an Ex-Pat, when all of this shit
is over. I'm so done with whatever is going on here and I'm not even
sure if the U. S. is able to see its way out of the mess that is
COVID-19.
As
long as people keep lying to themselves and going outside and doing
all of the things that are counter-intuitive and playing politics,
there is going to be THIS Pandemic. Coronavirus don't care if you're
GOP, DEM or INDEPENDENT. It's not about politics. It's not about your
stupid freedoms. You're not having a “Rosa Parks” moment, by
defying any government's (Federal or State's) orders and herding up
together with your friends. Your Civil Rights are not being trampled.
Imagine this were WW II. Would you go outside in London during the
Blitz, because the German bombs were taking away your rights to stand
in the streets and get blown to bits? I thought not. Think on that,
this Memorial Day, and remember those who died for us, so we could
live.
