With all this social distancing and “staying safe at home” going on, I’ve had plenty of time to sit out under the trees and think lately. Here are some of those thoughts about life under coronavirus conditions, in no particular order. . . .
First, it has been the most gorgeous spring we’ve had in Simpson County in years. Unfortunately, most of us have been so mad about having to cancel our spring break trips and Easter dress shopping trips and tanning sessions that we haven’t noticed or appreciated nature’s fine display. God must wonder about us sometimes.
Some of the cancellations are more serious, of course. Things have been cancelled that folks have looked forward to for a long time and put great effort and expense toward achieving. Now they won’t happen, or they will be greatly reduced. But the virus shutdown has put some of these things in perspective for us if we’re willing to change the way we look at them.
I feel so sorry for young couples who had weddings planned for this spring or early summer. They’ve either had to postpone the wedding to a time that may not be any better than this one or gear down to a much smaller event. It’s disappointing, I know.
Before the last 50 years or so, even the moderately lavish wedding was only for the rich, most of whom were going to stay married because that was the socially acceptable thing to do.
Today’s extravagant wedding is a marketing tool created by commercial concerns like Brides magazine and TV’s Say Yes to the Dress. The media has led every young woman to believe it’s her “right” to have her budget-busting “once in a lifetime” big day. Actually, it’s a way to get her to spend great amounts of money, hopefully on her credit card: “A great wedding isn’t cheap; the Wedding of Your Dreams-- Priceless!” Only it’s not priceless, as she or her shocked parents will learn when the credit card bill arrives.
Now, too many “once in a lifetime marriages” don’t even last until the credit card charges are paid off.
If we put it in perspective--which coronavirus is forcing us to do--a marriage was never supposed to be about the wedding day, it was supposed to be about the couple’s life after that day. It’s the Marriage of a Lifetime that we’re supposed to focus on. If we do that, we won’t even remember much about the lost Wedding of a Lifetime.
I’m also sorry about the cancellation of most graduations for this year. My own granddaughter is caught in this disappointing turn of events. As a former teacher, I know that graduation is the highlight of many kids’ lives. It’s the only time that some of them will ever be recognized for an achievement.
But a graduation is like a wedding--if the life that follows is full of purpose and accomplishment, a missed graduation ceremony will seem insignificant down the road.
The last couple of months have also put our own egos and arrogance into perspective. So much for our belief in our own power to direct our lives and do what we want to do when we want to do it!
I’ve also noticed this week that people’s reactions to the shut-down and isolation orders have changed in a predictable way. At first, we all stayed in and did what we were supposed to do. We congratulated ourselves on our forbearance.
But last week, we suddenly felt that we had been good enough, done enough and had a right to get back to our normal lives. Groups began staging demonstrations-- “Let us go back to normal,” their signs said.
I’m tired of staying in too. But a pandemic isn’t about your rights. It’s about your health. It’s not a good guys-bad guys situation in which the bad guys are deliberately holding back the good guys (you, of course), who have a right to reopen your business, go back to work and go to a movie.
I have some ideas about how this pandemic came about and why, but I don’t know what the “right” thing is now. Some experts say stay at home to be safe; some say isolation is counter-productive. That’s the problem: we don’t know. Officials are just erring on the side of caution. We may be wise to do the same thing for awhile longer.
Mississippi experienced a spike in cases last week. I actually predicted that after riding around town on Easter Sunday and seeing large gatherings at many houses. Families were going to Mama-n-’em’s regardless of coronavirus, mistakenly assuming that their own family members couldn’t be infectious. Now they’re paying for it.
I had a birthday last week. The only gift I wanted was a haircut, which is currently illegal. I own no rollers or bobby pins anymore, so I’m now looking for a headband to keep my hair out of my eyes.
Apparently, bobby pins and rollers are like girdles: you may not be using them today, but don’t throw them away. You never know how a good pandemic will change your perspective on what’s important.
