Dear Coronavirus, or COVID-19, or whatever it is you like to be called, or maybe more accurately, whatever it is we will spend the rest of our lives trying to forget you as.
You set off quietly, a silent bomb, in that market in that city and province, of tens of millions of souls, that no one had every heard of before.
And now here you are, in every maskless breath, every missed handshake, empty restaurant countertop, senior’s home nightmare, accelerating caseload curve.
We don’t quite know what to do, us normal people. Stay calm (inside) and carry on. Buy cans of beans we hope never to eat. Tell ourselves the same stories we tell to our kids.
You have revealed blue skies while the markets flash red. Grounded all flights and forced us to walk and to sit and to think and to reflect and to ponder and to feel and to slow down. To consider those we care for most and how to care for them best, in this moment, maybe in every moment.
You have somehow managed to unify humanity. In our frailty and helplessness; in our hopefulness and decency. You have made heroes of supermarket clerks and delivery drivers and gods of doctors, nurses and occasionally even bureaucrats.
I am the Italians. I am the Iranians. I am the first case in Zimbabwe. I am the last case in Paris. I am the asymptomatic untested masses. I am the drive-thru swabber. I am the accordion player on the balcony and the grandchild of the deceased.
I am doing squats in my living room and working from the dining room. Spending St. Patty’s Day in the kitchen and praying at night in bed. Sending my dad noodles and my mom whatsapp memes. Saving money and investing in time with my wife. I have a quarantine corner on my couch and limit my news consumption to 20 minutes a day, both for my mental health. I am trying my best to be ok while I know everyone else is trying the same.
I hope you leave even quicker than you came. Feel free to leave some of the good stuff behind and then never return. We were doing well before you, and I think that’s actually true. Now do what you’re gonna do and leave us with some of the lessons – and all of the compassion, clarity and ambition. And be on your way!