Has it really been 8½ months since a five-letter, two-number pandemic drastically altered the way we live our everyday lives?
Facebook recently reminded me just how much the world has changed, as a memory that popped up took me back to this same time last year.
I had never seen my all-time favorite band, REO Speedwagon, in concert. But after managing to snag a media pass and two complimentary tickets from the good folks at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, one of my best friends accompanied me on an unforgettable trip.
Despite the overly cautious staff at Harrah’s – which included no less than five camera bag checks between the theater’s entrance and beginning of the concert itself – when the band finally came on stage, I readily admit that in a split-second, I morphed from reporter to fan.
But as I stared at the memory, all I could think was, “Hey, remember when we used to be able to do stuff?”
Now, good luck finding a concert to attend today. Going out to eat, buying groceries and even attending a sporting event requires a mask and social distancing.
Let me be clear: this column is not going to dissect the ongoing debate over masks, social distancing and the ability for humans to use their own intelligence when determining what is safe and what is not. As much as I know many of you want me –– the newspaper editor –– to pick a side, I will undoubtedly disappoint you by offering this bit of wisdom instead: live your life the way you think is safest.
“Mask shaming” and spewing vitriol to someone either in public or on social media is as much of a solution as hoarding toilet paper. (Note: To the toilet-paper hoarders out there, shame on you. We all deserve to be clean after a trip to the bathroom. But I digress.)
Rather, we all need to step back and look at the bigger picture: life should and will go on, as a vaccine is set to begin distribution roughly three weeks after this column publishes. Major events are being planned for 2021.
Personally, I would love to hear the narrative being told 30 years from now as follows: “The world panicked and found itself divided when the coronavirus broke out across the globe, but later united in the fight against the pandemic.”
The Spanish flu swept across the world from 1918-20. A century later, we are faced with another flu-type pandemic. Be smart and safe, yes, but also be humble enough to realize that not everyone shares your views on everything.
And if you see someone celebrating turkey day and it is not up to par with how you are spending your Thanksgiving, help slow the spread by not opening your mouth to complain, thereby expounding molecules that carry the airborne virus.
“Keep pushin’, keep pushin’, keep pushin’, keep pushin’ on;
Keep pushin’, keep pushin’, you know you have got to be so strong;
Keep pushin, keep pushin’, well even if you think your strength is gone;
Keep pushin’ on.”
– “Keep Pushin’,”
REO Speedwagon, 1976.
Kevin Hensley is publisher/editor of The Graham Star. He can reached via phone, 828-479-3383; email, editor@grahamstar.com; and Twitter,
@KevinHensleyCNI.