I don’t roll on Shabbas…and now, you won’t catch your author anywhere near a bowling alley any other day of the week either.
Bowling has to be one of the highest-risk activities to spread a contagious virus (maybe second to a trip to Chuck E Cheese’s?) Just thinking about reaching my fingers into those three holes (get your mind out of the gutter…see what I did there?) in any of those colored balls at a local bowling alley makes my stomach churn and the little hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Add to that the shared rental shoes, the touchscreen automated scoring apparatus, the arcade games, the bowling alley bathrooms and the other patrons (many of whom would fit right in on Tiger King) and you may as well reserve an ICU wing at the local hospital.
But I digress.
There are a number of distinct memories I have from childhood, both good and bad, that are forever etched into my mind, along with certain imagery…just thinking about the events below brings me back to a certain time and place in my life. And conversely, reminiscing about certain times in my life, I immediately recall these events which are forever associated with those specific ages and moments.
- Gas station lines during the oil crisis in the ’70s
- Phillies 1980 World Series Victory
- Iran Hostage Crisis (in particular, the yellow ribbon – replete with its own song)
- USA Hockey victory over USSR – The Miracle on Ice
- John Lennon’s Assassination
- Reagan’s Assassination Attempt
- 76ers 1983 World Championship
- We Are the World
- Challenger Explosion
- Stock Market Crash of 1987
- Earthquake Disrupts 1989 Bay Area World Series
- The Gulf War – “This Aggression Will Not Stand!”
- Tiananmen Square
- Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
- Berlin Wall Comes Down (And the subsequent dissolving of the USSR)
- Magic Johnson Reveals He Has HIV
- Rodney King Riots
- Duke Back-to-Back Championships 1991-1992 – (in particular, the UNLV game in ’91 and the Kentucky game in ’92)
- OJ – The car chase and the trial
*The list is not exhaustive and shows a clear bias toward negative stories (one wonders if that is a human thing, a media thing or an IDROS thing). IDROS included impactful events from early childhood through college graduation. Also, please note these are all shared events. Obviously, like IDROS, all of you have personal memories and life-altering events of which only you and your closest family and friends might be aware. But this COVID-19 affair affects the entire planet and so this list includes only events shared by much of, if not all of, humanity.
IDROS would love to hear from any readers who have other watershed events to include in the comments below.
Thinking back on the list above, IDROS can’t help but wonder how his and all children will remember this dark and unique time in our world.
How will it be taught in schools? What will be the lasting images and photos of the pandemic that will fill the History textbooks? What would be the impacts on our world? Did humanity change as a result? And how so? Do we look back at this time nostalgically? Did any good come from this crisis? Did society learn anything from this? What, if anything, was forever changed by Coronavirus? Was our response effective? What could we have done better? Where did our efforts fail? How are we more prepared going forward for another such threat?
A few of IDROS’ stray observations so far from the Coronavirus Pandemic:
- No school shootings – an underrated benefit of this craziness
- My kids don’t realize the fears my wife and I have when doing mundane things like going grocery shopping or getting gas in this new world
- They also don’t know what we do once we return with our haul, or have it delivered – the hours wiping down all the boxes and packages with Clorox wipes, etc.
- If you weren’t a hypochondriac and/or germaphobe before this pandemic…you are now!
- IDROS fears even more than usual for all women and children living in an abusive home during this crisis (please read this great piece)
- Doctors, nurses and hospital employees are true heroes (as are grocery store employees, delivery men and women, and all first-responders)
- Yardwork is more fun when you are quarantined, but only marginally
- Little to no traffic on the roads is a pleasant and welcome benefit of these times
- IDROS believes the current situation must be especially difficult for anyone working a 12-step program (or similar) and prays for your continued strength – on the plus side: zoom meetings are available and the coffee is likely better
- IDROS is legitimately scared…for his family, friends, all who are protecting us and helping us through this time, America, and for humanity
- America’s greatest challenge in this pandemic, in IDROS’ humble opinion, is the vast amount of freedom the citizens of this country enjoy…to truly contain and defeat this enemy, a full lockdown is necessary and should have been instituted long ago (think, February). But Americans would never allow this en masse and will need to see much more devastation than a couple thousand deaths before allowing the government to claw back their freedoms. Nations with citizens who are more accustomed to dictatorial rule, or at least fewer liberties and freedoms in general, have fared much better during this pandemic.
- That said, IDROS is humbled by the overwhelming selflessness of the majority of American (and global) citizenry. Most people are sacrificing everything for the greater good, forgoing sanity, their careers, income and most that life has to offer outside the four walls of their homes to ensure the safety of the first-responders, medical professionals, elderly and immuno-compromised in our communities…and frankly, have done so with no real clear leadership. There is no precedent for this situation and still, by and large, the response has been amazingly awe-inspiring…at least so far.
- IDROS would like to thank all the kind people out there like John Krasinski who are trying to keep us focused on the good during these trying times.
Please be safe everyone. Humanity will prevail! Have faith and stay the f*c@ at home!
All the best,
IDROS
#FlattenTheCurve
idontrollonshabbas 