Social distancing

I don’t know if you have seen the gif/video of a man in Italy walking around with a big circle around his waist. He’s taking social distancing quite literally. And I may do the same. You see, next week (and the weeks after that) I will be working from home, because the Illinois governor has declared a state of emergency and congregating in big numbers at this point is apparently a no-no. We are basically around twelve days behind Italy and on route to be in as bad a position as much of Europe if we don’t take drastic measures and flatten the curve of the epidemic. We could get to a point where there are too many people sick with the virus and they will overwhelm the health care system in America.

I work around and with tons of people every day but thankfully I’ll be working from home starting this week. I’m glad my institution has at last decided to do this. When the governor in Illinois closed all schools and prohibited crowds in restaurants and bars many people screamed bloody murder. And I understand that not everybody can work from home or remotely. I understand that many people have got to be in the frontlines of this pandemic so we can keep functioning as a civilized society. There’s also people who depend on jobs that are going to be terribly affected by this pandemic. But reducing social contact may be the only way we flatten the curve of contagion and avoid being in this situation for even longer. Not to mention risking the health of a loved one.

If you are on social media, you probably saw instagram and twitter denizens posting about going around crowded places this weekend and reassuring you about how much they are contributing to the economy. I think going to crowded spaces at this point is kind of irresponsible. We may be asymptomatic or healthy right now but that does not mean we cannot get infected and then pass it on to someone who has underlying conditions and that may get killed if they get infected. This can lead to hospitals being overwhelmed by patients and to a depletion of medical supplies and beds. I know, it makes me sound like we are in some kind of post apocalyptic movie. But apparently, that is our reality as of today.

We are in an emergency. I’m suspending my usually slutty stream of consciousness to kind of try and make you see why we should practice some social distancing from our own good. It’s going to be for just some weeks. Just avoiding crowded places and keeping our distance from others we don’t know may help flatten the curve. And it may help us get out of this pandemic sooner.

Funny, but not surprising that local governments are doing more to lower the curve than IMPOTUS.  Cheeto only thinks about his numbers or how he can profit from situations. The Kakistocracy in which we live does not allow for planning for the county. Twitler is only thinking about how he looks while delivering disastrous speeches about the pandemic or if his properties would suffer from a haphazardly put together travel ban. We do not have a responsible government right now, only a bunch of psycophants telling their emperor that he is still wearing clothes.

So stay away from crowds for a few weeks. Don’t  hookup with some hot stranger for a few weeks. Work from home if you can. Stay at home whenever you can. Read a book. Binge watch a tv series. Install Pluto in your Roku or Apple TV. Blog more. Marie Kondo your closet. Watch more porn. Whatever keeps you out of circulating around bunches of people will be ok. Help flatten the curve.

Social distancing by Juan delcan pic.twitter.com/vchWkXkpYC

— StanceGrounded (@_SJPeace_) March 15, 2020

Oh. And wash your hands. Remember cleanliness is close to godliness. Especially now. 

Stay safe!

XOXO