Social Distance

12/16/2020 (Permalink)

Social Distance

For more than the last twenty years; man has developed technology that has made him more self- sufficient. The computer and the smart phone have given us answers to everything from the weather to medical advice. As a society, we seem to have all the information we need at our fingertips and the ease and speed with which we solve our problems is amazing. We even use these devices to connect socially with our friends and family. The power of the individual to thrive outside of the social group has never been more apparent. Then, in mid-February we found out just how very little we really know.

A tiny micro-organism called the coronavirus or COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill. A virus that has infected millions of people worldwide and killed hundreds of thousands has left us all frightened and looking for answers. Answers we cannot find on our phones or computers. I am 57 years old and I thought that 9/11 would be the defining historical moment of my life – but I may have been wrong.

Each day I rise and seem surprised that the sun is still shining and birds are still singing as I rush to the TV to check the up-tick in the number of infections and deaths and any promise of the vaccine. We have been introduced to a new concept known as “social-distancing”. I would think we would be better at this practice since most of us have very little human contact since the devices took over our lives. But the truth is we are struggling with this and people are not listening, meanwhile the virus grows stronger.

In a world and in an era where some are booking flights to Mars – our greatest minds are struggling with this crisis. The world has become a much smaller place almost overnight as we see our brethren in other countries braving the same nightmare. We have been forced to lay aside our politics and differences and focus on one common interest – our lives and the lives of everyone we love. It is a shame that sometimes only fear and horror seem to motivate our unity. There is a lesson here and I know it will become very apparent to all once this plague ends. Hopefully, we will never be the same “distant” society.