Post 86 - June 5, 2020
Day 86…
Yesterday, Michael baked some cookies and we took them to the Park. We met up with some friends and had a responsible socially distanced, masked, picnic.
We needed a break.
We are 86 days into the Stay-at-Home order imposed in New York. Over 1,000 people died from COVID-19 in the US over the last 24 hours.
Chris Trousdale, a member of the boyband Dream Street passed away yesterday from the virus. He was 34 years old.
A friend of mine who is in his 30’s has just recovered from the virus after spending many weeks fighting it. Over the course of the time he was ill, he had to go to the ER twice with breathing difficulties. He has now tested negative but is nowhere near being fully recovered.
Nick Cordero, the Broadway actor that everyone in the entertainment community has been praying for, is still in the hospital after more than two months.
He’s 41.
His condition is still extremely serious.
The coronavirus has not disappeared from anywhere except our news feeds. We are about three or four weeks away from really seeing what the effects of the current demonstrations will have on the case numbers.
We are about two weeks away from seeing what the effect of the Memorial Day celebrations and re-openings across the country will be on the numbers.
Yesterday, the demonstrations sparked by the killing of George Floyd continued throughout the country. These demonstrations have become about something far larger. We are, as a country, taking a hard look at ourselves. Yesterday in Minneapolis marked the first of several planned memorials to Mr. Floyd.
All of this is very hard to take in. Day after day. As amazing as it all is, it isn’t remotely easy. Make no mistake, we cannot ignore what is going on.
In Buffalo just yesterday, two police officers pushed over an elderly protestor, who fell and hit his head. The initial report from the Department was that the man had tripped. Only once the video, captured by a local news camera, that clearly showed the man being shoved out of the way by the officers, started circulating did the Buffalo Police Department revise its report.
Even with a spotlight shining brightly in their eyes, the first response of the Buffalo Police Department was to deny and cover up the incident.
There are protestors calling for the de-funding of the New York Police Department. I don’t understand how that helps. We need a police department.
Despite this moment when we are all out together united against a common problem, we are not suddenly all going to just get along.
We are still going to steal from each other.
We are still going to assault each other.
We are still going to murder each other.
Arson, extortion, forgery and fraud are not simply going to go away.
What we need is REFORM. We need to create transparency within the Police Departments around the country. Sometimes, the Police need to use force, but those times need to be clearly outlined and limits to what that force can be MUST be imposed. We can’t throw the baby out with the bath water and just get rid of the NYPD. We will not survive a minute without a Police force. It is completely naïve to think otherwise.
The anxiety that taking all of this in creates is palpable.There are times watching events unfold on TV that my heart starts beating so fast that I have to walk away. If I stay away from the TV too long, however, I then start getting worried about what I am missing, then THAT makes me anxious.
Watching our President floundering so badly as all of this is happening is extremely difficult to process. Yesterday, he retweeted a letter from his former lawyer John Dowd to former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. In the letter, Dowd refers to the peaceful protestors that had been tear gassed and forcibly removed from Lafayette Square for the President’s Bible photo op as terrorists. By retweeting the letter, the President is basically saying that himself.
It may seem like a tiny little thing, but it is important. The President is saying that US citizens lawfully exercising their first amendment rights are terrorists. We CANNOT ignore that, no matter how overwhelmed we are.
Retired General Mattis has denounced the President as a threat to the Constitution. This morning, the President’s ex-Chief of Staff General John Kelly came out in defense of Mattis. The military is pulling away from the President. In addition, some Republicans are starting to speak up against the President’s actions and they, in turn, are getting attacked for it.
Watching this shift start to occur has the double effect of being fascinating and, yes, at times exhilarating, but also very stressful. This isn’t a TV series. This is actually happening.
Everything that we are experiencing seems so far removed from what we think of as reality, that we have to constantly remind ourselves that, yes, it is actually unfolding in front of us. But we have to take breaks from it.
We cannot fully engage every day, day in and day out without doing long term damage to ourselves.
Neither Michael nor I marched yesterday. I was aware of the memorial to George Floyd in Minneapolis, but we didn’t watch it. I will watch some of it today.
Depending on where and when they are happening, I am planning on get out today and lending my voice to the protests. Yesterday, though, I couldn’t. I needed to be with my friends in the Park.
If you have ever flown on an airplane you have undoubtedly heard the pre-flight safety demonstration. If you are anything like me, you have probably heard it more times than you care to count."In the event of an emergency, oxygen will drop from the compartment above you." Whatever airline you fly, will then tell you to put the mask to your face first and THEN help others.
We are being called upon to help others. And we must.
We cannot, however, stop taking care of ourselves in the process. It is not selfish to take care of yourself. You are of no help to anyone else if you are not strong.
Turn off the TV when you need to.
Talk to your friends and your family.
Watch a few episodes of the Mary Tyler Moore show on Hulu.
That picnic in the park yesterday was exactly the oxygen I needed. I got a nice good gulp and today, I am good to go again.
We do need to keep informed about what is happening, but we don’t need to drown in it. Shutting out everything that is going on completely might ultimately be more dangerous than getting into it all too deeply, so regulate it.
Know your limits and respect them. We are in a national crisis. We are not through this. We are just in the middle of it. We have a way to go yet. And we need to keep up our strength.
Put your own oxygen mask on first and THEN help those around you.
We WILL land the plane.
Together.