Pandemic – Then & Now

Love Pandemic-Style David and Donna Figurski

     You know this is the first time you have ever been involved in a worldwide pandemic–unless, of, course you are more than one-hundred two years-old. Even then, you wouldn’t remember the pandemic of 1918, called the Spanish Flu, simply because you were an infant. So, essentially, COVID-19, the virus that we are experiencing right now, is something none of us have ever experienced before.

     We are new to this ill-fated phenomenon in our lives. And, I do mean ill-fated. After only eleven months of this virus contaminating our world, it has infected more than 12,304,224 people and killed more than 256,000 people in the United States alone. The Spanish Flu in 1918, which lasted more than two years, from February 1918 until April of 1920, killed about 675,000 Americans. At the rate, we are going and if we don’t find a miracle vaccine, we could easily pass that number.

     But, we have a huge advantage over the folks back in the early 1900s, we have a whole lot more science going on. More, but not enough. There is never enough science research for me.

     Take yourself back to the horse and buggy day of the early 1900s. Take yourself back to no social media, no ZOOM parties and gatherings, no food pick-ups and deliveries, no ways to order needed products, and no ways to safely congregate with friends. Living through the pandemic of 1918 must have been a hundred times harder than living through the coronavirus pandemic today. Yet, it is still hard.

     Many folks from 1918 refused to wear masks to help prevent the virus from spreading. They were called “The Mask Slackers of 1918. They called the masks “…muzzles, germ shields and dirt traps…” Maybe they didn’t have the luxury of laundry detergent at their fingertips as we do. In any case, times have not changed much, we still have mask slackers for the same political-type reasons today.

     I don’t care what the reasons are for wearing or not wearing masks, but please let’s do whatever is necessary to resist this virus. I NEED to go shopping again. (See my blog post of 11/22/20, Shop 'til You Drop!

See you soon.
donna

---