This coronavirus story has moved at a dizzying pace, even for journalists who may be more experienced than many in adjusting to fast-changing circumstances.
Changes have certainly been rapid in recent days.
The most recent (as of press time) is Gov. Brown’s order Monday morning to state residents to hunker down, at risk of incurring a fine or jail time. It’s been crazy.
As one local businessperson told us, after being asked how things were going, “Everything has been in such a rush, it’s hard to assemble my thoughts.” We understand.
It’s also evoked confusing and conflicting reactions for many of us.
Uncertainty. Anger. Frustration. Anxiety. Stubbornness. Doubt. Fear. Even panic.
Our small world has undergone some very rapid changes in the space of two weeks. We’re seeing people behave very well, though some of us may have gotten the evil eye or a flick of the tongue when we’ve allowed ourselves to move too close to someone or their pet. (It’s no longer cool to pet other people’s animals, by the way.)
We’ve been ordered to stay home, to avoid social interaction, to cleanse ourselves frequently, etc.
None of this is wrong, though in other circumstances such behavior might be simply goodwill and concern for others. Now it’s being dictated to us by a crowd of very serious-looking public officials, which dampens the pleasure that comes with doing the right thing, especially for those who don’t appreciate ever-increasing constraints.
Then, of course, there’s been what some have referred to as “panic in the public square” and “a case study in uncertainty” – spurring unpleasant incidents in the grocery stores, wild gyrations in the stock indexes.
One of the challenges of the coronavirus is the uncertainty this situation brings. This is as close to an invisible threat as can be imagined outside of a science fiction story. The COVID-19 belongs to a family of viruses that generally measure between 60 and 140 nanometers (60-140 thousand-millionths of a meter) in size, which means they’re only visible under an electron microscope and the number it would take to cover the head of a pin would be, well, mind-blowing to most of us.
This isn’t a war in which we can see the enemy. This isn’t Adolf Hitler and the Axis, which were the threat the last time these types of strictures were placed on Americans.
We don’t know where this enemy is, really. We don’t know what it looks like, except it will probably look friendly (as in someone we know). We don’t know for sure how it will affect us – or any of our associates, for that matter.
What we do know is that it’s the reason for job losses, shutdowns of institutions and services many of us depend on – schools, businesses, service and meal programs, churches, etc., and it’s causing extreme disruption to our lives and to local businesses.
It’s caused our stock market to tank, though this would likely have happened sooner or later anyway. Some have lost jobs and income, at least temporarily.
And what is probably most disconcerting, we don’t know when this will end, and when it does it will be a decision made by people who are looking at the same scenarios as the rest of us. In other words, it will be a judgment call – for better or worse.
We Americans are pretty used to having life largely the way we want it, and this sudden curtailment of our activitiese has been particularly difficult.
We can’t just go out to eat. We can’t go to a movie. The library is closed. Many of us can’t go to work. Landlords can’t evict tenants, which is great for people who can’t pay their rent but bad for landlords who have to pay the mortgage. We’re told to stay cooped up in our homes and our yards. We can’t go to our kids’ activities – sports, Scouts, music, parties, etc. – because there aren’t any right now. March Madness has been canceled, and the Olympics have been postponed. The only reason we’re seeing shows on TV is because they were pre-recorded.
Although it may sound a little silly, life is becoming difficult. We’re not used to this.
So, following are some things we can think about, to maintain some equilibrium during this time.
We can appreciate the openness of our national and state leaders in detailing why they are taking the steps they are taking. Even if we don’t agree with the action, our governor and others are communicating directly to us, answering questions with apparent honesty, even hinting at new developments so we’re not caught off guard, which is a positive.
Like we said, this is an invisible and unpredictable threat. Nobody really knows what’s going to happen next, least of all our leadership – or the media. We may look back later, like Monday morning quarterbacks, and see clearly where we went wrong. But like a coach on the sidelines, about all we can do now is call it as we see it.
Since we don’t really know what the right answer is, since we can’t see the enemy and we can’t read the future, it’s best-guess time. And if we were public officials in a world in which people sue for all manner of reasons that can be ridiculously frivolous, we’d be looking at how to reduce our exposure by exercising extreme care.
Gov. Brown and President Trump don’t spend a lot of time in the world of healthcare, so (like any of us who rely on what our doctor tells us), they’re subject to advice from experts who are, and pressure from other government leaders who want to have a say in this. That pressure is very real in politics, where there’s a lot of give-and-take, negotiation for support, etc. We can know Gov. Brown is feeling a lot of pressure, especially from Portland-area politicians. She has to figure out what to do with that.
Individually, we need to do what it takes to stay even-keeled. This may be tough. Nobody likes this. Given everything we’ve stated above, prudence is a wise course of action and showing concern for those around us, even if we don’t happen to be overly phobic about getting this thing ourselves, is what being good citizens is all about. Reducing our social interactions is our civic duty in this crisis.
Now is the time to be neighborly. We may not be thinking specifically about local businesses, but if there are any whose presence in Sweet Home we particularly value (see list on page 9), this is the time to support them by doing business with them as much as possible.
We frequently preach “shop local” in The New Era, because support from the local community is key, especially when gas prices are low enough to warrant a trip out of town, where our money is likely to disappear to Bentonville, Ark., or somewhere else far beyond east Linn County.
Community is always important, but in this crisis, it’s doubly so, in ways many of us may not even recognize.
Having said all that, there’s one more important consideration in this coronavirus experience, and it’s not an issue of physical health.
Each of the executive orders we’ve received represents an impingement on our life, liberty and happiness as American citizens. While this may be necessary because of this crisis we’re experiencing, we hope Americans recognize what’s just happened, besides the fact that we’re battling a bug.
Journalists, by nature, are people whose job requires us to question authority, though not necessarily in a destructive way. So when we hear these dictates, we wonder how all this will play out.
We hope we all will go away from this valuing those freedoms we’ve enjoyed more so than ever, and that we let our elected leaders know that this was a unique event that shouldn’t often be repeated.