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The Tale of Two Pandemics
Robert is an Actor, Writer and Singer and lives in Las Cruces
April -12-2020
COVID-19 has been a tale of two pandemics for me… one in New Mexico and the other in New York City where I was born and raised and where many family members and friends still live. Thus far, the New Mexico version of this crisis has been manageable. Being under a stay-at-home order here has been relatively simple, compared to what we would have experienced in our 20th floor apartment in Manhattan. There is still the feeling of dislocation, as one grapples with the fact that most everything in life is cancelled… meetings, performances, travel plans. Even our son must complete the last semester of his Masters degree program online with a plan to graduate “virtually” in May.
For all, these beginning weeks have been a search for equilibrium. At first, it was astonishing to visit the supermarket and see shelves stripped bare of paper goods, beans, rice, potato chips, tuna and pasta, while there was still abundant produce to be purchase. Now the panic buying seems to have subsided and with certain exceptions, one can find most anything one needs. But preparing to go shopping for groceries feels a bit like having to slip behind enemy lines, as one gathers the mask, hand sanitizer and battle plan (the grocery list) to minimize time in the store. My last shopping trip found most customers wearing some form of mask (encouraging) and none of the staff protecting themselves (discouraging). I am now buying more items online to limit in-store shopping. And to help small local businesses survive the shutdown, I am getting weekly deliveries of coffee beans and fresh baked bread.
But I juxtapose these local experiences with reports from my family and friends in NYC. Some whom have been hospitalized and thankfully recovered. Others who are dealing with the illness from their apartments in isolation. Most disturbing of all was a friend who is a young ER doctor in New Jersey and had to intubate his ER colleague, another young, healthy doctor.
As the days go on, one does get the sense of a storm coming. While I don’t think New Mexico will approach the devastation of NYC, there is more pain to come – particularly if we don’t all take this pandemic seriously. And so, for now… I wait as hours turn into days… and we all realize how interconnected this world is. Is this a wake-up call for the world to slow down? Is there greater meaning to be found? Perhaps. And then I recall the title of a favorite play from my university days – a satire by Christian Dietrich Grabbe entitled “Jest, Satire, Irony and Deeper Significance” – and I wonder if we’re willing or ready to learn from this pandemic.
- Robert McNamara