By Johnnie Does
Folks, it is amazing how a virus originating in China can literally put people’s minds into a pretzel. 90 day guy came into the office today, you guessed it, Lysol Wipes, hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol in hand. He said his wife forced him to bring all this to the office….I called BS. He said we should buy surgical masks, and discuss our interactions with the public, keep in mind we may get 12 people a month in the office. This is a typical overreaction from a cable watcher.
To be clear the views expressed on this blog in regard to cable are not entirely bad, frankly if you wish to pay to consume it each month, by all means. We just warn here that the job of cable (including Fox News BTW) is to gin up emotions and get people to react irrationally. Look at the events of the past 72 hours in our local city. Elk Grove Unified cancelled all classes and athletics, keep in mind nary a student had tested positive for this virus! Keep in mind the teachers were upset, but the only parental dissatisfaction were parents of the Sheldon High Men’s Basketball team scheduled to play tonight in the playoffs! I’m not bagging on the parents at all, actually they are the most rational people in this situation. Funny thing is, I saw many students of Laguna Creek High congregating and mingling with the public near my office at a local Target today! The horror! Yep can’t attend class, but they are out and about doing what kids do!
The sad thing is at the time of the editorial deadline for this article only 22 people have died in the US from this virus. I say only because the media and local educators are making this thing sound like the Spanish Flu (originating in China too BTW). Of the 22 dead, 15 occurred in the same nursing home in Washington State. We have had 2 cases in Sacramento County, 1 in Elk Grove, there has been 1 death in Placer County….an older man, just like the others who have passed away. Yet we cancelled classes for a week. Santa Clara County cancelled events with attendance over 1000, so the San Jose Sharks will play 3 games with no attendance? The Ivy League has cancelled their basketball tournament. MLB, NBA, and NCAA are considering what to do about their respective sporting events, with MLB and NBA kicking the press out of the locker rooms.
This type of overreaction is befuddling to me. However I have come to expect it. I call it “Hurricane Katrina Risk” meaning you cannot under deliver so you must over react. Why are we cancelling school, when we had 0 positive tests? Telling people not to go to games? Stockpiling food, water, toilet paper, and sanitizer? Come on man! Yet you all wonder why the stocks have been crashing?
Here is some straight talk on this; Corona is very similar to a cold, most likely you are going to contract it. My advice, stay vigilant, maintain good hygiene, and keep your immune system strong. The reality is; I work in a building with a bunch of dentists, its business as usual for them. Ditto at my bank, the restaurant I went to dinner at, the gym, and church. You are far more likely to die from the common cold or the flu, than this virus. Here we are wanting everyone to batten down the hatches and not go outside, and at this time there is nothing to be scared of unless you are elderly, or have health issues. Over reacting is not going to solve our fears here, it just makes it worse. How will you react if this virus kills more people?
Just to give you more anxiety, I heard today the Corona Virus can live in toilet paper, and I heard its transferrable in packages delivered by Amazon. No word on if UPS, USPS, and FedEx are in on the conspiracy.
Johnnie Does
BTW 90 day guy hit the golf links the past 2 days…..with the public. If he is so scared of catching this, I would think a controlled environment is far better than an uncontrolled one. Oh well.
Editor’s Note: This article was submitted yesterday, before Sheldon High School won their playoff game. Also, after this article was submitted, a report was published that an elderly person living in a senior facility in Elk Grove had died from Corona. The elderly woman was over 90 years old and had underlying health conditions.