TERRY MOSHER
TOP OF THE TOWN – Regardless of how fast (or slow) we open up our full economy, we will likely never go back to what was normal before COVID-19 swept over the globe. The virus is an invisible enemy that is very contagious and that not only is scary but extremely dangerous to people with underlying conditions and the elderly, and now there are signs that it affects the very young in dangerous ways. So unless there is a complete agreement the virus is gone, there will always be some paranoid. How long this pandemic lasts is hard to tell. The 1918 Spanish Flu came in the spring of that year and hung around until the summer of 1919. Some estimates of the death toll from the Spanish Flu say 100 million died from it, which was three percent of the world’s population. It killed more U.S. soldiers than World War I. Summer heat will slow the virus, but it will still be out there and unless we adhere to safety guidelines it will continue to spread. I feel terrible about small businesses because there is little that can be done to provide services without the possibility of spreading the disease. So even as they open will customers enter? As a sports guy, I didn’t realize how much I depended on them. So when they were forced to shut down it took away a big chunk of my life. I have had to find something else because reading and writing to complete my day. So much of our society has gotten used to having sports around and to take it away while necessary has been rough on it. Being highly competitive, I can relate to high school seniors who have had their spring sports and the promise of success leading to a college scholarship being swiped away. Colleges looking to recruit based on spring success are also suffering, although in the grand scheme of things its small compared to people dying from the virus. How do colleges fill their rosters when high school recruits can’t show them they deserve to be on them? What about those college athletes who had hoped to have a good spring in their sport that would catch the eye of a pro scout and start them toward a successful career financially that would set them up for life? That also is small potatoes compared to those who have died from the virus. But it’s something to consider when we think of those athletes. Bottom line is that the world is changing because of the COVID-19. Change is part of the human experience, but those changes usually come in small increments, not a full-blown deep and lasting change all at once. It seems clear that the way we work will drastically change. People have been increasingly working from home – advances in electronic technology have assured that. But the virus has pushed us faster in that direction, and showing us that it can be successfully done. So all those tall buildings that house thousands of office workers, will they now become obsolete? If we don’t need those tall buildings, what happens to them? What happens to rents? Lockdowns and quarantines have also slowed the impact on our air quality and our environment in a positive way. So do we recognize that and say, hey, we don’t have to have so many gas-guzzling cars polluting our environment? Does that mean we turn our streets into pedestrian walkways? Bicycle paths? We may lost hundreds of thousands of people in this country, especially if a second, and more dangerous, second wave hits us in the fall. But for those of us who survive it, there may be a positive lining to all of this. Our way of life may be better environmentally and helps us discover the joys of nature. At least, we can hope so. … I seen the Seahawks have resigned Geno Smith as a backup quarterback. So football life continues onward. We just don’t know yet when it will continue on the field.
Be well pal.
Be safe out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.