I’m back at work after a few days away.
The news hasn’t changed much—protests throughout the country, Coronavirus on the rise, North Korea threatening something.
One thing I did realize after being gone a few days, though, is that you’re never really that far away from the news these days. Not anymore.
In the old days, I would have to play catch-up after a vacation. I remember going through all the newspapers the night before I went back to work. But these days, I’m as informed as ever. Turns out, you can vacation and stay in the loop at the same time.
Enrique and I went to the Florida Keys last week to get away for a few days. For the most part, we had some much needed R&R. Lots of sun. Lots of sleep. Lots and lots of key lime pie.
In our hotel, I watched to see who was wearing masks. Besides the staff and me, not that many people.
The mask has become quite a political statement these days. While we all know that wearing a mask can help prevent the spread of Covid-19, it seems everyone has an opinion about whether or not it works for them. Why, you might ask? I think it’s because people are over it.
Months of quarantine have taken a toll on our collective psyche. People are out of the house again and hungry for some normalcy—that is, they want the “old normal” before the pandemic, not the “new normal” of masks and social distancing.
I hope we don’t pay a price for the lax in PPE, but I fear we will. Coronavirus cases are spiking in Florida every day… and I’m not sure I accept that the reason is because of more widespread testing.
When people find out what I do for a living, they always want to pick my brain about the news. I get it. They’re thinking What does the news guy know?
What I’ve found is most people ask a lot of questions—but they don’t necessarily want any answers. They just want to tell me what they think.
I’ve learned to listen politely and say something like “I think this time is different. This will be a time of real change.” Then, I change the subject. Most of the time, it works.
This all tells me that these days you can’t get away from the news. No one can. It’s on our TVs, on our phones, on our minds.
Turning off is not an option. Maybe it’s a good. In a sea of change, it’s important to stay up-to-date. To stay aware. No one wants to be left behind.
If only I could decide if this is a good or bad thing…
These blogs are incredibly insightful and I love reading them! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!!
Dave… thanks for reading and commenting. It means a lot. Hope you are well. Love you!
You know the Europeans think that Americans are spoiled and do not accept being inconvenienced And I now tend to agree that we are spoiled and think that it, “is not fair”, when most do not realize we were never promised things would be fair. However, we were promised that we have been given the tools needed to handle the problems we are given. Very few of us think that way because we do not know that to be Rational we have to be truthful and we refuse to face the truth. The medical doctors say, “wear a mask when in others company.” Rep Rice admitted his son, wife and himself all were positive His son was worse than he and his wife. A week prior to his son being sick he was on the floor without a mask. So now how many more are going to be positive and maybe really sick and he will not even speak to why we should wear masks. Rational??????
Take care!!
Thank you for this.
I can feel this sense of normalcy returning to the UK and it worries me as the virus hasn’t disappeared. I’m not one of those who are acting like normal life is back but there are many who are in this country. I consistently battle with whether the breaking news cycle is healthy but that said, it offers us little excuse for not saying informed. I very much enjoy reading your posts!
Thank you.