Observations from the Front Lines

Observations from the front lines of the COVID-19 Pandemic. We're all on the front lines. We're all in this together. Granted some are in much worse situations than others. Everyone in my family still has a job to go to except for my 15-year-old daughter. She worked at a shirt and souvenir shop in Annapolis that has decided to close for the next couple of weeks. Months? The husband-wife owners of the shop are still trying to plot their way forward. The wife had another full-time job that she was just laid off from because of this pandemic. Like a one-two punch combination, now she and her husband are forced to close their shop and their only other source of income. They have two small kids and they're certainly not financially well off, by any stretch of the imagination. My wife's side gig as a professional face painter has, of course, come to a screeching halt. We were just coming into the busy season for face painting. The days leading up to and including St. Patrick's Day are some of the busiest (and most fun) for her. She sets up at an Irish Pub and paints kids (and adults) with shamrocks and other incredibly artistic designs to help them celebrate the holiday during which everyone is just a little bit Irish, regardless of ancestry. Not this year. Luckily she did get to face paint at the Annapolis St. Patrick's Parade because it was held on Sunday, March 8th. It was one of the last big public gatherings in Annapolis before the entire state of Maryland started shutting down. I had a bunch of side gigs canceled too. I'm a musician and a DJ. Not a good side gig to have when all of the bars and restaurants in the entire state have been shut down. My last live gig occurred on Saturday, March 14th, at a neighborhood bar/restaurant. The crowd was significantly smaller and less festive than previous Saturday nights. The seriousness and enormity of the pandemic were just really starting to sink in for most people; me included. I remember wondering to myself that night if I should even be there; if my bandmates should even be there. Were we making things worse by performing and encouraging folks to come out and see us? I was genuinely torn inside. I knew life as we all knew it was about to change, but I refused to let myself think too much about it. It was frightening. I had a gig scheduled for the next day that had already been canceled, but my two St. Patrick's Day gigs at Irish pubs were still on. I was seriously considering canceling them from my end. I ended up doing that the next day, Sunday, but then on Monday Governor Hogan ordered all bars and restaurants to close down so I wouldn't have had those gigs anyway. Now I stare at my calendar and see the DJ and live gigs that I had scheduled through May and I know they're all as good as canceled as well.  And then I think about all the full-time musicians, sound guys, bartenders, servers, managers, barbacks, dishwashers, busboys, and every other gig worker in and around the service industry. This is devastating to them. What is their 'plan b' going to be? I'm going to be forced to split my time at work; one week on, one week off. This effectively also splits my paychecks in half. Not good, but nowhere near as devastating as losing the source of your entire income overnight; with no money in reserve and probably no health insurance to boot.

It's clear in my mind that our government at the state and federal level must step in -and do it quickly- to help folks financially. All the billion-dollar bailouts of the "too big to fail" banks and automakers during the financial crisis if 2008-2009 come to mind now. Forget too big to fail, many Americans are too small to survive this without the government stepping in to help. It's still early, but I'm encouraged to see that folks in Washington are already talking about how to help citizens (financially) make it through this pandemic. It's a crucial part of the winning solution. There are too many Americans more worried about being ruined financially than being infected with the coronavirus. I'm in that category. Our government doesn't really have a great track record; and the guy currently driving the bus is a genuine idiot, plain and simple. It's OK to have an idiot in charge, as long as he's smart or pliable enough to take the advice of the experts around him. That's not the case with Trump. He doesn't take advice and he contradicts expert advice and himself on a daily basis. He has no clue what's going on and no foresight into what the future potentially looks like. His ego gets in the way of everything he says and does. He's dangerous. Keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers, people. Let's hope the calmer, saner, more knowledgeable minds prevail throughout this catastrophe. And that's a nice segue into my next observation.

There are still a lot of really kind, thoughtful, and motivated individuals out there who are doing their part -in HUGE ways- to help others. Beautiful and inspiring people. These people make me want to be a better person so they're actually accomplishing so much more than the specific act that they are doing to pitch in and help. So if you're one of those devastated individuals, please hang in there and seek out and focus on the good deeds and people pulling us all together during this nightmare. I've found the best way to get my mind off my problems and worries is to focus on someone else's needs and how I can help. I'm talking about our neighbors, friends, and family as well as strangers. Reaching out with an expected helping hand can have a tremendous ripple effect. I've seen it firsthand many, many times. 

There are still a lot of folks out there who can't wrap their head around why things have gone to such an extreme requiring businesses to close and life, as we know it, to change overnight. It's easy to question and doubt what you don't understand, but the most powerful tool against fear and ignorance is knowledge and, trust me, there is plenty of knowledge out there concerning COVID19. Just be sure you get it from the infectious disease and medical experts. A post shared on social media is not a reputable source unless you follow up by researching/fact-checking the information being presented. Sadly, the media is also not a reputable source all the time. Facts and information are often sensationalized or cherry-picked for a specific feature. Many news programs aren't news these days, they're just a bunch of talking heads sitting around a table and tossing out theories and conjecture without any scientific data to support what they're saying. In my opinion, that's dangerous and approaching criminal behavior, but this is the 24-hour 'news' cycle we are all a part of now. My advice is to pick a reputable source and stick with it.  Visit it 2 or 3 times a day for updates. Monitor your state government website set up to provide updates. And then spend the rest of your day living your life as best you can in this drastically-altered reality that we all now share. It's common for most people to have a distrust of the government; whether it's local, state, or federal. I mean, look back through history at all the cases of government corruption, fraud, waste, and inaction at all levels; who would blame you for mistrusting?!  But the notion that this virus is some sort of deep state conspiracy to sway an election or erode our democracy is carrying things just a little too far. Again, concentrate on the facts from the experts. Our government -at all levels now- seems to be prudently following the advice and recommendations of these experts. It's a bitter pill for us all to swallow, but we have to trust the facts and data being collected and do whatever it takes to get over this. The good news is all of the experts say we can win this battle. None of them are predicting the end of the human race or any sort of apocalyptic outcome so long as we knuckle down, bite the bullet, and do the right things. Social distancing, hygiene, testing, etc.  If you're one of those people bitching about this being some sort of government overreach and talking about bringing back the concept of Speakeasy-type gatherings, I'm sorry, you sound incredibly misinformed, ignorant, and stupid to me (and to a lot of other people). As Americans, we tend to be extremely spoiled in our way of life when compared with other countries. So try to change your way of thinking. Instead of feeling entitled, try being grateful. Lose the self-centered attitude and focus on the greater good; for your family, your friends, and your community. We're all on the front lines. We're all in this together.