What have we learned over the past few years? Or have we learned anything? Are we coming out better, stronger, faster? I’d say we are a 4 out of 10 for dealing with a pandemic globally. We are in year 3 of this hellacious apocalypse. Let me tell you what I’ve learned, in my own sardonic way.
Panic at the Disco: When the shit hit the fan a few years ago, we thought we would be out of work/school for just 14 days. Don’t worry about cleaning out your desk and taking those files home, we’ll be back, and this thing will be over. HA! We ended up finding out it would take just a bit longer, then a little longer than that, then it was ‘who really knows’? Did a bat really cause this? Why? How? Can our animals get it? Should we clean out our bank accounts. This is all Russia’s fault. What’s an essential worker? And my favorite: Yes, even those working in liquor stores are essential. (This one I totally agree with). SO let’s binge Netflix, zoom our families and dance the night away!
General Hospital has a whole new meaning. The hospitals started to fill up with Covid cases as one would expect. People’s loved ones died with only a nurse or 2 in the room while family listened in via phone. How did we get here? How does this happen in real life? Elderly in nursing homes became a prison for residents and NY started putting Covid patients into rehabs with healthy patients. Causing a whole lot of Eff ups. When it was out for the public, those in charge claimed it wasn’t so. Bad time to make that claim. What did we learn? My own grandmother was in a home, we couldn’t go inside and see her. We had to go to her window and talk with her. She died at 100 years old. Without even a hug from anyone.
Masked Bandits from Mcdonald’s. Wear a mask, don’t wear a mask. That is the question. I still think of the Mcdonald’s Hamburglar even though his mask was over his eyes. Most of us to this day can’t wear a mask the right way. Even our politicians. I can’t tell you the amount of times I have accidently sucked in the mask and nearly choked to death.
How Many Shots Does It Take to Get to End the Pandemic? Apparently, we don’t have this info yet. Circle back in a few months.
Mental Health is more than self-care at this point. The disruption of ordinary life for long periods of time, comes with big consequences for most of our global population. Mental health in about all age ranges are staggering. You can’t just take a hot shower and paint your nails to feel better. This is going to take years and years to fix. When mental health starts to fall apart, it’s a domino effect.
People are Assholes. Funny how staying home and being anonymous on the internet has turned so many into keyboard bullies. Some don’t even care about being anonymous. It’s like a thing to be a complete jerk to others like some sort of sick game. Well, it has caused me to learn more about the following words: Gaslighting, Narcissist, Manipulation, Boundaries, Victim Mentality, Word Salad, Love Bombing, and it goes on and on. What is it about this pandemic that has made people show their true colors? Shouldn’t we be assessing our own lives, faults and plan to become better people after this weird time in our history? Instead, we’ve become monsters.
By now you’re thinking I’ve lost my mind and have become a negative Nelly. Yep. Probably. But I did find some positives!
- I love food and grocery deliver or curbside pickup. This is awesomesauce!
- Working from home. I ended up retiring from my 16-year career in Early Childhood and continue to grow my dream job in social media! If it weren’t for this time of reflection, I might not have done it!
- Zoom meetings can be hilarious. People forget you can see them apparently. Picking noses, eating ice cream pops looking like a seductive Only Fans web show, people walking in the background forgetting that everyone can see them half-naked. lol That list goes on.
- Finally, the rise of TikTok. It has created the most creative people from dance trends, DIY interior design, therapy sessions of others, comedians that might not have taken off, hours and hours of weird videos that you can’t unsee. But there is always something that will make you laugh, cry, learn and inspire. Just stay away from crackhead TikTok. lol
In summary, we have learned to change, adapt, despise, question, become angered and awe inspired too. But we have to do better. So, check yourself.
Peace, Love & Margaritas
