`
Almost sixty years prior to the coronavirus pandemic, my own peers had made it their Job #1 to bully me; demote me to the rank rank of second class citizen; these sickos’ nonsensical and merciless verbal, physical and emotional attacks robbing me of the carefree, fun times, which is (should be) (must be) each and every kid’s birthright.
And, upon factoring in how much school I had skipped to escape their torment, they also committed similar grand larceny by denying me my education; which, btw, is (should be) (must be) each and every human’s birthright, too.
Oh, eventually, after four long years of this harassment, these schoolyard and neighborhood hoodlums / hooligans did grow a tad weary of tormenting me, but their timing could not have been worse. You see, by then, puberty took over; it’s Job #1 being to deface my face.
While my parents (by profession, both high school level educators) did attempt to defend and console me, they could no more effectively open my principals’ eyes than my clogged pores.
My only, bygone coping mechanism, summed up in two words, had become: Social Isolating
Not showing my face in public, eventually, became a way of life; if “life” is even the operative word, here.
Ironically, my leading into 2020, New Year’s resolution had been to get off the bench and back into the game of life; to make the most out of whatever time I have remaining on Earth.
Needless to say, we all know how well that went, don’t we?
So, what has nearly a lifetime in lockdown taught me?
In pre-pandemic times, I could take some solace in my belief that life’s parade was still marching onward; to be joined in progress when the time was ripe.
However, with the pandemic still marching and rampaging onward AND the revelation of the ever-evolving, far more contagious and deadlier, coronavirus variants (of late, discovered, right here, in my home state of Michigan) AND the slow down of the vaccines’ distribution (due to both logistical and pharmacological problems) it’d appear that life’s parade has been canceled indefinitely.
My greatest concerns:
- By the time this running amok, global scourge is finally in our rear view mirrors, so too, will be my above mentioned, days of yore, ill-timed, ill-fated New Year’s resolution.
- Considering how a huge chunk of my Earthly existence can already be seen within my own, personal, rear view mirror, my road ahead, indeed, doth appear short.
My best coping mechanism (hopefully yours too), summed up in ten words, continues to be:
Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!
-30-
`
`
`
`
CommonSenseTom 