Overreaction Or Appropriate Reaction?

This is the craziest time ever, isn’t it? So much of the panic that we’ve been seeing around coronavirus has seemed hyperreactive and hysterical – from all of the absolute idiots out there who are hoarding basic supplies while forgetting that AS THEY HOARD, they’re preventing others from having an adequate stock of supplies themselves, which doesn’t solve anything and which creates more illness.

If you’re one of those idiots, WTF is wrong with you? If you’ve bought seventy two thousand rolls of toilet paper or masks or clorox wipes or WHATEVER, congrats – there are now people who won’t have those things at all, and if you encounter them, THEY WILL GET YOU SICK because you’re an idiot who hoarded, and frankly, if that’s the case, then you deserve it.

Look – I’ve been one of those people who’ve felt like pre-emptive closures and crowd-bans seems excessive and over the top, until yesterday.

Yesterday, Indiana basically cancelled everything. Schools, gatherings, concerts, sports – everything. It’s not like it was a surprise – we’ve seen other states implement similar measures. And after reading this, and watching what’s happened in Italy, I get it now.

I know, I know.  It’s a Medium column written by someone you’ve never heard of.  Don’t let that stop you from reading it though.  It’s based on available data points, it echoes the actions that our government leaders are now taking, and it MAKES SENSE.

What doesn’t make sense is people raiding grocery stores and acting like selfish asshats.

Social distancing?  Yes.  I get it.  Let’s stop the spread.

Hoarding?  No.  For the love of GOD, people, get your sh*t together and stop acting like lunatics.

The biggest concern with this virus is the load on the healthcare system.  This is what Italy is facing, and because they were not able to contain the spread, they are now facing horrific decisions – like choosing who will get treatment and who won’t based on age and other health factors.  They simply don’t have the resources to treat the number of people with the virus.

And what happens when people in our country hoard stuff like masks and gloves and other basics?  They prevent healthcare workers from having them, which leads to the overload on the healthcare system, which leads to the SAME F*CKING THING HAPPENING HERE if we don’t exercise some basic good judgment.

Anyway, of course it sucks completely that our economy is being destroyed and that people’s livelihoods are at stake with the closures of conventions, concerts, schools, and restrictions on travel, etc.  There are no words to adequately convey that level of suckage. But we’re now at a critical juncture.  It’s no longer accurate to compare this to the seasonal flu because people have already panicked, our collective response to it has been a disaster, and our systems are already under pressure. We simply must do whatever it takes to stop or delay the spread.  And unfortunately, that means our lives are gonna have to be upended for the next several weeks or months.

It absolutely sucks that our country isn’t prepared for the testing that should be happening on a large scale, but it is what it is.  We just need to get through it all together, stop the mass panic, and BREATHE.

And don’t touch your face.  🙂