What?
I’m just plain frightened.
While many people around the world were either lamenting or praising Simone Biles’s decision to withdraw from the gymnastics competition at the Olympic Games in Tokyo or doing a happy dance because Aaron Rodgers is in football camp with the Green Bay Packers, my fear continued to grow.
Don’t misunderstand me. I think Biles displayed remarkable courage in respecting the signal her body was sending her via “the twisties.” From an unnamed source on the Internet, “the twisties” are defined as a “phenomenon wherein an experienced athlete suddenly loses their track of where their body is in space.” Obviously for a gymnast this could be extremely dangerous or even fatal.
In speaking to reporters shortly after her decision to withdraw, Biles explained, “You have to be there 100 percent. If not, you get hurt. Today has been really stressful. I was shaking. I couldn’t nap. I have never felt like this going into a competition, and I tried to go out and have fun. But once I came out, I was like, ‘No. My mental is not there.’”
And as far as the soap opera in Green Bay is concerned, Rodgers, last season’s MVP, did show up for training camp, and apparently one side (management) or the other side (Rodgers) has buried the hatchet because it looks as if No. 12 will be calling the signals again for the Packers this season.
Although I applaud Biles for her difficult decision and admit to being pleased that Rodgers is back in the fold, these two events have done absolutely nothing to alleviate the fear that has been plaguing me recently. No, what concerns me is a new potential for requiring masks and social distancing, the shuttering of restaurants, the cancelation of area festivals, the mandates everyone must wear a mask in public, and spending another Thanksgiving and Christmas season visiting with family via the computer. Yes, what I fear is a return of the full-fledged pandemic. I’m being an alarmist, you say. Let’s have a look at the causes of my pressing trepidation. I feel as if we’re battling one of those monsters that can keep regenerating like those in the science fiction movies of the 1950s.
At this writing, the USA had 99,470 new cases, and right now Florida is a hot spot, and it’s not from the sun. The Sunshine State had 17,093 new cases, and California (11,004) and Texas (13,603) also lead in new cases, while another variant recently has reared its ugly head. Scientists are scrambling in trying to corral it, but the early word is that it’s worse than the strain that spawned it. And they are still battling the Covid Delta variant.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases had this to say about the Delta variant: “We are dealing with a different virus now. This is not the original virus we were dealing with. This has different capabilities much more efficient in transmitting from person to person.”
The CDC recently reversed its mask ruling and said even fully vaccinated people should wear masks indoors where transmission rates are high because Delta is now the dominant strain in this country. And it says this strain is as contagious as chickenpox!
And that’s why I’m afraid. I don’t want my grandchildren and the members of my family who are educators being forced to wear masks in the classroom or even worse suffer through another year of virtual learning.
But do you know what’s the worst part of this whole damn thing is? As horrendous as all the deaths and infections are and have been, the whole miserable experience perhaps could not have been prevented, but its overwhelming severity might have been lessened considerably if those in power had handled the situation differently. However, that is something that cannot be remedied, but we still have a chance to fix things so that we can have a normal Thanksgiving and Christmas. Get vaccinated! Yes, I know breakthroughs are possible, but the vaccine will lessen the symptoms, and let’s hope prevent death.
The only way we can win this war is by massive vaccinations. Let’s think of the whole thing as a championship boxing match.
“Ladies and gentlemen, in this corner we have the current disease champion of the world, Apollo Coronavirus, and in the other corner is the challenger, Rocky Vaccination. This is a scheduled 15-rounder.”
Both fighters go to their respective corners and then DING! The fight begins, and Apollo dominates the early rounds because nobody had ever seen a fighter like him before. During the break in each round Rocky huddles in his corner with his trainer Dr. Anthony Disease Control and a group of men and women dressed in white lab coats frantically mixing things in test tubes to no avail. Finally, at the end of round 14, as Rocky staggers to his corner, one of the whitecoats raises a test tube and yells, “I think I’ve got it!” Anthony grabs the test tube and hands it to Rocky, who drinks the contents just in time to answer the bell for round 15.
As the round begins, Rocky is a little shaky, but suddenly he begins to gain strength and land some serious punches. Let’ listen to the radio announcer.
“Rocky lands a crushing combination to Apollo’s body, and it really hurt him. He tries to counter, but there’s nothing behind his punch. Now Rocky unleashes a flurry of punches to Apollo’s head. AND DOWN GOES APOLLO! DOWN GOES APOLLO! DOWN GOES APOLLO! He’s struggling to get up, but suddenly there’s a smaller Apollo trying to help him. Now Anthony is screaming at Rocky, ‘That’s Apollo Variant. Get it first.’ At the count of seven, both Apollos are on their feet, and Rocky wades into Variant with all his strength, and finally the regenerated Variant goes down for the count. Now here comes the first Apollo, but he doesn’t have any real strength left, and Rocky uses a mighty right uppercut to the jaw, and Apollo goes down.
“‘ONE!’ the referee begins his rhythmic count. ‘TWO!’ ‘THREE!’ ‘FOUR!’ Apollo is trying to get up now. ‘FIVE!’ ‘SIX!’ ‘SEVEN!’ Apollo grabs the ropes in an effort to pull himself up. ‘EIGHT!’ Suddenly Anthony yells at Rocky, “Round eight. Time to vaccinate!” Rocky rushes over and sticks a needle in Apollo’s arm. ‘NINE!’ Apollo crumples to the canvas. ‘TEN!’
“Rocky triumphantly raises both arms, looks at his corner and yells, ‘YO, ANTHONY, WE DID IT!’
Ponder This:
Last night I played a blank audio tape at full blast. The mime next door went nuts.
~ George Carlin
