Life in the Time of Coronavirus: Coping

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Slipcover art from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's Multi-Screen Edition Blu-ray. © 2019, 2020 Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)

Well, it's Sunday, March 29, 2020, and it's the last weekend of a tumultuous month unlike any other since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against America. Once again, the entire country is facing a danger that's posed not just to human lives, but to the values that many of us hold dear - civility, decency, moral courage, and a belief that we as a nation can unite despite partisan divisions and persevere in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Unfortunately, unlike those dark and scary times after the Twin Towers fell and part of the Pentagon was scarred by the impact of an American Airlines Boeing 757 hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists, when a mediocre Republican President named George W. Bush managed to rally the nation and prepared to strike back at our enemies, the ship of state is rudderless,. Most of us are angry, scared, and uncertain about our fate. And we are led by a "Republican" President whose ignorance, incompetence and abrasiveness makes "Dubya" look like Abraham Lincoln or even Franklin D. Roosevelt by comparison.


I'm not going to submit you, Dear Reader, to another long dissertation on Donald Trump's many blunders, lies, and infuriatingly narcissistic statements and actions that lead me to believe that he's among the worst U.S. Presidents in history. Suffice it to say, however, that his absurd "hope" that the U.S. can start rolling back "social distancing" in time for Easter 2020 is, in my view, stupid, irresponsible, and characteristic of a man whose sole interest is salvaging the economy that is currently tanking as COVID-19 continues to spread among the population on a daily basis.

As you can guess from the post's title, the topic for today's blog post is Coping. For that's what all of humanity is doing: coping with a public health crisis and its effects on a globalized economy.

Right now my coping strategies are:


  • Keeping busy with writing
  • Staying informed
  • Reading
  • Listening to music
  • Gaming
  • Paying bills and helping out my loved ones as best as I can
  • Online shopping (although not too excessively)
  • Watching movies, including ones I've had in my collection for years (Jaws, Casablanca, Raiders of the Lost Ark), or new additions to my Blu-ray stash (1917, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker)
  • Checking on my friends, especially now that I'm far away from most of them
Mind you, most of the orders I've made on Amazon or Best Buy were planned well in advance of the social distancing, but at least one of my more recent purchases (Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga) is definitely a "comfort product" item. 

Well, Dear Reader, I'm going to wrap this post up; I've said all I can for now, and I have some books to read and music to listen to. So, until next time, I'll catch you on the sunny side of things. 

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