The Day After

21 April 2020

Yesterday was my birthday.  Perhaps surprisingly (given the cantankerous bastard that I am), I got more positive wishes for my birthday than the number of years I have amassed on this orb. From my perspective that was a real plus. 

Outside Easter, my birthday was the first major ceremonial event I have celebrated since the Coviid 19 pandemic has struck.  Normally on a birthday I go out for some food that is not in the ordinary scope of what we eat. However, nobody is going out to eat these days, not here. Restaurants are closed to all but takeout and there are darn few open for takeout. In a normal year there might have been a little get together somewhere.  Nobody is getting together anywhere these days. We are socially distanced.  Given the potential consequences if we don’t socially distance, a low-key birthday was the right thing to do.

Social distancing is irritating in instances like these.  I use the word irritating as opposed to angering because while I am miffed, I am not hostile. I am willing to do what needs to be done to rein in this disease.  My hope is that the vast majority of people around me, my fellow citizens, are willing to do the same. I owe it to others around me not to injure them.  From my perspective they owe the same duty to me. According to the scientists, this six-foot no-fly zone is the bare minimum we can do to avoid a huge surge of Coviid 19 cases.

Trust me I know that not being able to shop for everything I want is irritating. Not being able to go out to dinner for a steak on my birthday is aggravating.  On May 4^th it will be my wife and mine’s thirty fifth wedding anniversary.  Not being able to gather friends around for that event will hurt.  Not being about to eat seafood at a fine dining restaurant will be a shame, a veritable crime.  But science says this is what we must do.  Therefore, I will grin and bear it, trusting that the vantage point of science is correct.

So, thank you all for the birthday wishes.  Give me the best gift there is going forward, follow the directions of experts about washing your hands, wearing masks, and staying distanced. Stay safe.