This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but with a whimper
- T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men
These lines appear at the beginning of Stephen King's mini-series, "The Stand". If you've never seen TS, I don't recommend you watch it now (even though you probably have the time). TS is six hours of pure cinematic gold that holds up just as well today as when it was released. TS begins with a lethal virus that gets out of a government lab and quickly eliminates everyone it touches. Everyone in the lab dies and the sole security guard at the front gate, told to lockdown the facility, instead grabs his wife and children and tries to outrun the infection. His family die soon after fleeing and he follows soon after, but not before crossing state lines and bringing the virus to Texas. Not long after his death, the residents of the town he died in start to become sick, as do folks across the country and eventually the world. Mandatory quarantines are out into place. A group of individuals with seemingly nothing in common are found to be immune from the virus and never get sick. Some of this sounds familiar now, right?
What was a fantastic movie that I watched again and again has now become a living nightmare I wish I could turn off. I think many of us not located in China can agree that when we first heard the word, "Coronavirus", we didn't pay it much mind. After all, it was so far away and other infections that have surfaced in that part of the world have run their course without apocalyptic consequences. We watched the news but went about our lives. And then it spread. And spread. Until it finally hit the U.S.. And, of course, our government did not handle it right at all. And so the spread continued. And now...I don't even know. The last few weeks have been concerning but this past week has been downright surreal. I was gearing up to watch my beloved Avalanche play when I heard about the NBA pulling players off the court at a game. I assumed it was some sudden decision to avoid crowds and was surprised to learn a player, who went out of his way to be a jackass and touch both reporter's microphones and his teammates things, was infected. His carelessness resulted in yet another infected player. When the NBA postponed their season, I knew the NHL wouldn't be far behind. Both leagues share the same buildings and the cities they play in were already beginning to limit large gatherings. The crowd at the Avalanche game was small and had that feeling that it would be the last game for awhile. Baseball is delayed. Broadway is dark. TV shows and movies have stopped production. When everything hit, it hit hard.
I'm very...on edge. I'm not panic buying toilet paper, but I'm doing some "just in case" preparation. Because there are so many just in cases to prepare for. everything is in limbo and there's so much uncertainty. And that makes me nervous. And the last thing you need when you're nervous is more time on your hands to be nervous. But that's exactly what I've got since work isn't working right now. I try to keep occupied to keep myself from thinking about all the what ifs, but it doesn't always work. Whatever you do to occupy yourself eventually ends and then you're back in this place. Every routine is changed or at least slightly different. What we've heard about in the last few days is the stuff of movies; infection, quarantine, pandemic, cities shut down. The constant projections of how many people could get sick and how this hasn't peaked and will get worse before it gets better...it's just hard to cope with.
