Coronavirus Hits Home
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The Los Angeles protests seeking justice for George Floyd (Source: LA Times)
In this election year, America may be headed into an epochal reckoning. It's a scary time for the rich, racist and people with preexisting respiratory disease. We shall see where Asians fit into the new era. As Frantz Fanon, a West Indian philosopher and psychiatrist, stated: “When we revolt it’s not for a particular culture. We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe.”
Coronavirus Hits Home
Relatives who don’t live with me tend to keep their medical struggles between themselves out of a sympathetic understanding that I will crumble at the hint of bad news. So, it was no surprise when during a Zoom call the other night, my brother announced that he had Covid-19. More accurately, he had had Covid-19. The news was a review to my sister, mother and other brother since they knew from the outset, three weeks earlier. I got to skip over the 101-degree fever, intense weakness, loss of taste, and isolation, and touch down instead at the happy ending where he delights in his losing 20 pounds from the ordeal. Truth be told, I appreciated their gift of ignorance. With churches closed, I couldn't light candles or touch the feet of statues. Prayer is my superpower. He came out OK without my divine intervention. (This win doesn't disprove the existence of God. A priest once told me about the power of retrospective prayer.)
A realist wouldn't have been surprised by my brother's illness. Daniel Maddela, MD, is a geriatric psychiatrist in Fort Wayne, Indiana, a health worker on the front lines. Indiana, at this time, isn't a recognized hot spot, but I know Dan is too principled to direct nurses to control his anxious patients while he sits behind plexiglass. I was shocked mainly because up until this moment, I believed that my family and friends were among the majority of Americans whose preventive measures were airtight. Covid-19 hadn't seeped into the bubble surrounding people I know personally. Today, close relatives, including Dan, his preteen daughter and his girlfriend, have reason for both celebration and vigilance. Once it happens to someone I know, the national debate about whether to immediately open all stores, gyms and houses of worship doesn't worry me into a catatonic state but, rather, into an informed willingness to accept the necessary sacrifices until we're certain everyone is safe. An enlarged death toll shouldn't be one of the necessary sacrifices to restart the economy and get people back to work.
Dan Maddela
On the Lighter Side
Early on in the pandemic, amateur prognosticators were predicting a "new normal" where PPE, social distancing and teleworking remained long after Covid-19 mutates into the sniffles. I'm optimistic that people will shake hands again though all the hug memorabilia might never return, dads won't have to create digital avatars to walk their daughters down the aisle in Zoom weddings, and shoplifters will still have dressing rooms to ply their trade. But some things will change, perhaps for the better:
· Buses: They'll remove the bells. Just cough, and you'll be let off at the next stop.
· Crosswalks: All the crosswalk signal buttons will be removed to eliminate one more thing the virus can contaminate. If you've ever stood at a crosswalk and ignored the button, you'll see that the walk signal goes on automatically. The buttons are props to give pedestrians tactile stimulation and a sense of control. The only wires in those buttons are springs. If you push the button ten times in ten seconds, it only feels like the light turned ten seconds faster.
Proof that crosswalk buttons were always props.
· Exercise: Zoom allows yoga and high intensity interval training classes to happen live with the instructor there to bark commands and tell you if you're doing the poses right. I predict a return to prerecorded classes on DVD.
· Movie Theatres: Amazon Prime, Netflix and Disney/Hulu will own all theatres primarily to show movies for one week to be eligible for an Oscar.
· Misanthropes: Used to be people were rightfully offended when a lady with a purse jaywalked to the other sidewalk at the sight of a gentleman in a hoodie. Social distancing will give Merriam-Webster's "haters of humankind" the respect they never deserved.
• GPA: We've heard about the 1,230 colleges that have made SAT and ACT scores optional for admission. It won't be long before grade point average comes up for debate. Colleges will begin to judge high school seniors by the content of their character, not the price of their private tutors.
Daughter Charlotte belongs to the Class of 2020 at the LAUSD Zoo Magnet High. Her first semester in the Wildlife Conservation and Vertebrate Biology Program of Humboldt State University will take place online at home.
• Windsocks: With the return of typewriters, phonographs and missions to the moon, windsocks can't be far behind. As the world craves simple things, windsocks are more down-to-earth than satellites for determining which way the wind blows.
Covid-19 closed down salons and barber shops, so Anthony (left, with son Gregory) armed his wife Susan with clippers and a camera.
Some of us live in concrete jungles or have rooms without a view. For ambient nature while sheltering inside, I recommend casting the FeederWatch webcam from the good souls at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Days devoted to watching birds is time well spent.
Anthony Maddela
Anthony Maddela works for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. When he's not in Watts, he's locked inside with his family of four.
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