What Could Go Wrong?
Stay at
home, it isn’t safe.
The virus is
very infectious, stay away from groups, especially indoors. Practice social distancing and wear a mask.
There are no
bars open. Gyms are closed. Restaurants
are closed. Schools are closed. You can’t even get a haircut.
Stay at
home, it isn’t safe.
We have to
avoid a second surge of the virus.
Young people
are all staying home. The very people
who are less susceptible to the virus are staying home. Hell, where would they go? They have to work from
home or they are suddenly unemployed.
There is no school to go to. Want
to go on a date? Where are you going to
go?
So, young
people, the very people not in very much danger from the virus, (yes, I know
there have been exceptions, there are always exceptions and all you see on the
news are the exceptions) are forced to stay at home.
No dating,
nowhere to go. There is no baseball on TV, no NBA Basketball Finals, no Stanley
Cup Hockey, no Masters Golf, not even boxing, or cage fighting. Hell there isn’t even tennis or bowling. There has been no outlet for boredom in 10
weeks. Ten weeks!
What could
go wrong?
A man is
murdered by a bad cop. By all accounts a
good man and a very bad cop. Millions of
young people with no outlet for boredom, millions of young people with 10 weeks
of pent up energy are suddenly filled with righteous indignation.
What could
go wrong?
This virus
is dangerous. But social distancing does
have unintentional consequences.
Young people
with pent up energy protest police brutality; murder. Protests last all night. These young people don’t have to get up in
the morning and go to work, or school.
They don’t have a date with a pretty young girl, there is no game to run
home to and watch on TV.
What could
go wrong?
It may be
time to restart the country. The virus
is serious, but so are the unintended consequences of forced home confinement,
especially for young people.
What could
go wrong?
When all this started, I did think about the pent-up rage that some individuals in our society would feel, though I thought it would be expressed in an uptick in mass shootings. Sorry to say I still think that's coming.
ReplyDeleteWhen weighing options, we look at the consequences and possible fallout. There are known risks, unknown risks, and then there are the things we could never have imagined happening, what someone once called the unknowable unknown risks.
ReplyDeleteWe are in phase 2 here starting next week, and the tension is draining off. We have to hope that continues, and that good changes come out of these terrible circumstances.
Staying home in a pandemic may have been a tipping point. Surely you are not implying that it is the root cause of the pent up outrage over another bad cop killing a black man for no apparent reason and systemic racism underlying protests?
ReplyDeleteI reread the post, I don't do not see where I could be implying the pent up energy is the root cause of the violence. To be clear I think it is part of a perfect storm that has exacerbated the situation and played a part in mostly peaceful and understandable demonstrations morphing into riots which hurt many of the same people the demonstrators are trying to support.
DeleteI fear for the protester's health. I think their rage is righteous but they are taking a big chance. Our numbers here are rising alarmingly every day and that was before the mass gatherings.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, reopen the country and let people get back to living. And hopefully not dying senselessly.
ReplyDeleteBetty
We are watching what could go wrong. It's time to open America indeed.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day, Joe. 😎
Comment by blogger "Should Fish More" was, as always, deleted unread. I assume it was snide and mean spirited. I do not know why he ever visits my blog, I've tried to be friendly with him, but he only looks to incite and poke. There is something wrong with him. Anyway, F-you Mike!
ReplyDeleteJust popped in to say I'm back.... or perhaps my excuse is that I didn't get to read interesting things.
ReplyDeleteJoe, do you think the quarantine was the catalyst for these giant protests nationwide? Your post raises some interesting questions... hope you're doing good.
ReplyDeleteOops I meant to say "a catalyst", not "the catalyst"
DeleteI think the quarantine contributed to the unrest. Part of a perfect storm. The catalyst was clearly the brutal murder of a black man by a bad news cop.
DeleteWhat could go wrong? How much time you got?
ReplyDeleteApparently we are staging protests here in Australia too, each major city, tomorrow morning. I won't be going, I don't like crowds, but I'll see it all on the news tomorrow night. I doubt there will be any rioting, which I'm thankful for. Generally we Aussies just march and make our voices heard then go home when it's all over. I hope very much it stays that way.
We've had huge protests here in the UK. It seems all that pent up emotion of lockdown has suddenly erupted. Chairs were thrown on police horses and even Winston Churchill's statue was defaced. Black lives matter, of course they do. In fact, all lives matter.
ReplyDeletewww.aroundmykitchentable.co.uk