A little bug with a big bite: the Corona Virus
Over the years, I have had my share of tourism related "disasters." There was the BP Oil spill in Florida that short circuited The Lemoncello; a volcano in Iceland that killed off 1800Hotels, and storms and earthquakes here that have rattled visitors (wordplay intended) from one side of the island to the other.
The one thing that all these "disasters" have in common is a rabid press. Europeans believed the Florida Gulf Coast was black with oil (it wasn't) and currently people on the mainland are under the impression that Puerto Rico is a pile of rubble covered in blue tarp (its not). We currently have a couple in the Cottage Apartment who were not only astounded that we have not been reduced to third-world slums, but have had to reassure family and neighbors back home of this fact almost daily.
Now its the Corona virus who has placed the world (and its economy) in a barrel, and a soberly gleeful press who is rolling that barrel steadily towards Niagara Falls with two hands; hand-over-hand.
I know there are many people who believe this press obsession is sinister; that the media (left or right) has an agenda to unseat this person or aggrandize that person. I wish I could be so optimistic as to believe there was anything so principled involved. Personally I think it boils down to ad sales; imminent death and utter destruction sells papers. And then there is the self-importance factor. In the premier edition of my new publication, The Socratic Review I discuss the nature of governments and crises. Let's face it-- when it comes to crises; governments are damned both ways. But for those in power, it has to be a big adrenaline rush.
Now, I should go on to point out that I do take this virus seriously. But then-- I take most things seriously. I routinely keep a supply of food and water in the house, and as anyone who has ever known me will tell you-- I wash my hands like a surgeon all the time (at least 80 times a day). Compulsive? Perhaps. But that's what I was taught as a little boy, and that's what I do. When I lived in New York I rarely ever got a cold because I never touched a subway pole with my bare hand-- EVER!!!
This too shall pass. And people will move on. And in a few years we will probably barely remember this crises.
At least-- I hope so.
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