Here comes the obligatory “new year, new me!” post:
You know, the one where I need to say that I’ve
- turned over a new leaf
- am hoping to get XYZ done in the weeks/months/year ahead
- how miraculously different this year is going to be in comparison to failed resolutions of the past.
Truth is that very little of that is going to happen in this post.
I think I’m going to start this year with the steamy, pungent rotting compost heap of past experiences. If nothing else, the past two years have encouraged the concept that crazy shit doesn’t have to happen slowly. Let’s make the best and upcycle that refuse into something harvestable, shall we?
Instead of being hopeful and optimistic about the future (an unknown series of events that could just as well be complicated by an ever changing set of economic, social, and viral complications), I choose to read the tea leaves of the past (a misunderstood series of events that will defy interpretation and logic due to complications from alcohol, emotion/perspective bias, and poor life decisions).
My goal to make this year better than the last starts with expressing myself in a medium other than video. So this first post is an exploration on the last two years
2020 – A Crescendo of COVID
Nothing much needs to be said about “the one year we must get through that will definitely mark the end of a global pandemic and will definitely not get worse”.
I think I speak for all of us when I say thank god for the entirely necessary celebrity sing-off of boomer bait music from the comfort of their massive home compounds. I think we all remember just how warm and snuggly the hugs were from everyone who was previously socially, politically, economically divided finally coming together to share the hatred of rich, tone-deaf fucks.
It was interesting to see COVID happening from my place at the time in Denver. I happened to be working for a tech-based software-as-a-service company tied to the restaurant industry, and had been since 2017. I was on a path to a salaried position supervising call center Customer Support Representatives (next stop CEO!). I distinctly remember the progression from January to March via the watercooler conversations:
- Oh man that sucks. For China, I mean. They’ll be fine. SARS, right? I thought that was only in Japan or something.
- Shit look! Europe has it, too. Thank god America will never have these kinds of problems (because freedom and NASCAR).
- Yeah I mean there have been a few cases, but they are like in New York and stuff. It’ll never get here.
- “At this time, we are not offering work from home options but management is monitoring government guidelines to stay appraised on the situation.”
- Yeah I mean it’s just a cold, people are blowing stuff out of proportion.
- Can I borrow your hand sanitizer?
- Remember to provide your equipment serial number info so you can get checked back in when we come back to the office in a few weeks.
- Hey so…. you know the restaurant industry? The one we get money based on reservation traffic from? Yeah we need to shut it down for the entire country. Also we might have to switch our entire platform to delivery integration. Have fun!
- “We are sorry to inform you that a necessary reduction in the workforce is needed in these unprecedented times…”
The most irritating aspect was watching the incredible amount of toxic positivity denial I have seen in my lifetime:
- It’s not in my country, not my fuckin problem. Let them Asians/Europeans/South Americans/Africans sort it out.
- It’s not in my state/city, nmfp. Blue staters getting sick is not an issue
- The virus isn’t real.
- Ok it might be real but it’s just a cold/we’re healthy.
- We don’t need the elderly, we need an economy. Sacrifice grandma to the machine!
- Wearing a mask is against my freedoms. I should be allowed to purchase palettes of toilet paper while risking infecting/being infected by other freedomshoppers.
- I don’t know what’s in the vaccine so I won’t get it. Also horse meds because niche news program.
- The presence of a booster means the vaccine isn’t effective -checkmate, virgins!
- What do you mean I’ve gotta intubate? I’m AMERICAN.
Disease and death do not care about your politics, bumper stickers, or biases. People unfortunately do, and were all too happy to let the “other side” die in mass numbers. It started with Democrats (potentially due to the population density and/or flight traffic through the cities) and now bubbles in the Republican red-zones due to vaccine and precaution aversion.
Frankly as soon as I heard that public health would be dependent on people washing their hands and staying a respectful distance apart I knew we were doomed. You don’t have to spend much time in the hospitality industry to realize how fucknasty dirty the average bar guest can get.
2021 – A Year Worth Forgetting
TL:DR; Most people were so messed up from 2020 that 2021 felt like that little bit of humidity that escaped just after a rank fart. It existed, but was significantly less notable than the initial report.
Well except for the attempted insurrection and all.
In true form, people are denying the validity of the insurrection itself as a question of semantics. Personally speaking, I think if you get arrested for breaking a window on private property then breaking into a government facility is kind of a big fucking deal.
Prices went up, politicians did nothing exceptional out of the ordinary, and the disgustingly rich became more disgustingly rich while children of all races died in neglect proportional to their economic status, as is the way.