A coworker comes to my desk to report that she had completed some expected work and to engage in some small talk as she is want to do. I oblige by listening and bantering. She chuckled while saying her daughter had told her that she was “old” as a discussion starter. Of course, it begged the question, Why? And, of course, she was getting at the COVID-19 issue. She asked if I was concerned. To which I replied emphatically, Hell yes! Apparently, she is not as she proceeded to tell me that COVID-19 is like the flu! OMG! WTF? What!?!? I’m pretty sure I went from calm to somewhere between angry and annoyed as I repeated that COVID-19 is not the f***ing flu! How is this possible? Seriously?!?! What kind of f***ing fantasyland of obliviousness and stupidity do people inhabit to still believe the most basic misconception of this disease? COVID-19 is not like the flu! I asked her where she heard that information, praying to God she would not say Facebook. Please Lord, no! Not Facebook. Her “phone” was the reply. I did not press her on what news feeds because I was still yelling that COVID-19 is not the f***ing flu. So, I sent her a real news article to read in the Atlantic because she is right at the age of being at increased risk. I was truly concerned for her health because she was so misinformed and thinks she has nothing to worry about — but she should. It’s probably not much higher than the average mortality rate, but even slightly more than 3-4% is still too f***ing much!
But wait! It gets better! Apparently, her true concern is not so much the virus because, after all, it’s really no worse than the flu — ugh! No, her concern was the economy and a possible recession — fair enough. But can anyone guess what her greatest concern (or perhaps the first concern to come to mind) was? Chicago’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade being canceled and the kids missing out, especially those kids who practiced their dancing to be in it. I’m not sure what she meant by the dancing; I’ve never been to the parade. But the message was clear enough: “but the children.” Un-m*****f***ing-believable. Governors across the country are declaring states of emergencies. All of Italy has essentially shut down — literally. March Madness has been all but canceled because governments and businesses are banning large gatherings. But she’s worried about children’s parade fun being canceled. This — people — is the stupidity of America! Welcome to trump stupid America! It is everywhere! I give up! I just f***ing give up! I can’t take the stupidity anymore!