Offending the King

Los Angeles, California

In the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical, 1776, there is a scene where the delegates are going over the declaration penned by Thomas Jefferson, essentially adding and removing passages which are of interest to each individual colony represented. At one point, someone requests the removal of a portion of the declaration which he feels to be offensive to the King. In response, John Adams declares something to the effect of: It's a revolution, damnit. We're going to have to offend someone!

This popped into my head recently as the pandemic rages on and in Los Angeles in particular, the numbers and prognostications are dire. And yet. And yet, vast numbers of our population seem to feel that they should be able to engage in many, if not most, of their pre-pandemic activities. Which, by the way, is why the pandemic increasingly rages on.

Granted, the government guidance in our country, in our state and locally, has been spotty at best. And, given that the nature of the virus as well as the scope of the pandemic is novel, there was to be a certain amount of trial and error involved. On the subject of leading by example, California's governor attending a birthday dinner at The French Laundry would fall into the error category. And as far as national guidance? That will come into the category of tragedy plus time equals comedy. In this case a comedy of completely irrational inattention.

If we had gotten a more organized government response, say as was seen in New York or San Francisco in the beginning of the crisis, would we still be in this place? I think we probably would. And I think that is partly because we have a populace who feels entitled to not be kept from having a good time. Many have failed to heed the fact that, in following the reference to 1776: It's a pandemic, damnit. You're going to have to forego the fun!

Perhaps I'm bitter because I spent Thanksgiving with a bowl of macaroni and cheese. It was very good macaroni and cheese, but I would rather have shared the holiday with other humans. I don't have a pod, but I don't begrudge people celebrating the holidays within their family pods. There is attention in that. But my heart goes out to the hospital careworkers tending those dying of Covid, who travel to and from their work past restaurants and bars teeming with outdoor diners and revelers. It's not that I think all restaurants and other businesses should be shut down. Obviously, take-out dining is currently viable, and if you happen to be a restaurant-owner you certainly want to have patrons even if they are only picking up prepared food for home. But, come on, this is a pandemic. The disease is only spread through person-to-person contact. We had been warned that second and third waves were coming. But too many people chose to treat their pandemic fatigue rather than consciously adapting to all of the pandemic precautions. I expect young people to be that stupid (in another blogpost I might outline some of the ways in which I was ridiculously careless and moronic when I was young). But what surprises me is the people of a certain age who simply need to get out of their house and go to a restaurant. Huh? P.A.N.D.E.M.I.C.

The business that Tom and I started and ran for thirty-two years weathered a disasterous earthquake, two recessions including a great one, and a city edict that basically meant the product we sold could not be used by homeowners. The setback from these events lasted anywhere from months to many years. Being in business involves risk and preparation. You have to get prepared to support yourself in times when the business cannot. If you can't do that, then you shouldn't be in business. During better times you live within your means and squirrel away whatever surplus profit you can so you have back-up, because the one thing that is for sure is that worse times will come around. Do I think the government should be doing more to help businesses and employees? Absolutely. But I also think the number one responsibility of us all, after voting, is to follow the guidelines explicitly. Because it is a pandemic, damnit. And in any language that is going to mean hardship. When we're out of it, we can sort it all out. New business will rise out of failed businesses. Restaurants and shops will fill again. Maybe people will have retired earlier than anticipated. Not a bad thing. The bad thing is dying. The worse thing is your actions cause someone else to die. Someone who wanted a future with holiday celebrations, restaurant dining and all the other trappings of a hopefully normal, post-pandemic life. Someone who didn't have a choice, because they had to go to work at the hospital, care facility, warehouse or market. Those are essential service workers. Most of us have a choice. And we all need to do our part by keeping calm and carrying on. But let's do it at home, with the certainty of knowing that the life you save may be many. Thanks for reading my blog. And, yes, I was careless and moronic in my youth. No longer careless. Working on that other thing.