Partying Like It's 1918

1918

 

 

They've always talked about "the luck of the Irish". If you think about it, all through their history, the Irish people have been anything but lucky. It wasn't until years after they became Americans that some serious luck start to catch up with them. It should be "the luck of the Americans". All through its history, whenever any serious crisis faced this country, the United States has always been blessed to have a leader of insight living in the White House. All of that changed nearly twenty years ago, on September 11, 2001. When the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor sixty years earlier occurred, America's luck ran out. I don't need to rehash the sins and blunders of the Age of Dubya; It's all too depressing to even think about. Now that we're about to face the worst pandemic in one-hundred-and-two-years, given the intellect and instability of the current occupant of the Oval Office....well....there's not a lot of room for optimism, we'll just leave it at that.

 

During the epidemic that ran between the years 1918 and 1920, it is estimated that nearly three-quarters-of-a-million Americans died. That's about twice as many Americans who died in World War One, which ended as the pandemic was exploding. The month of October of 1918 is still recognized as the deadliest month in American history. Think about that! So many people died that corpses had to be interred in mass graves; undertakers had difficulty keeping up with the demand for coffins. Many bodies went without. The world wide the death toll was estimated at fifty million.

 

The ground-zero of the Coronavirus (at least here in the states) seems to be New Rochelle, NY, a small city in Westchester County which is sixty-one miles to the southeast of where I live. As of this writing, a grand total of one-hundred and eighteen souls have been diagnosed. None, as far as I know, have passed away. Many people around the nation are starting to self-quarantine - probably not a bad idea - but the panic is beginning to be tangible.

 

Yesterday, as I do every week, I attempted to purchase a case of bottled water. The store, which is usually overloaded with the stuff, was bone dry. The same was true in another store I visited a little later in the day. The traffic outside of my window on Route 17K, is usually so heavy at this time of the day, at times it takes me ten minutes to get out of the driveway if I have to make a left-hand turn. The traffic is sparse this morning. Relatively few are venturing out. Probably a wise precaution. It has been announced that local schools are being closed for two weeks. If the president of the United States is not taking too seriously what is happening, local officials, at least, are.

 

FUN FACT: I'm suffering from the flu this week. Not to worry: it's only the garden variety type....I think.

 

Despite the idiocy emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (Trump has put Mike Pence in charge. Ain't that somethin'?) we can get through this relatively unscathed. Precaution is the word of the day. Be safe. Be healthy.

 

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

 

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

 

Here is a link to an excellent documentary I found on YouTube on the 1918 "Spanish Flu" pandemic. Highly recommended.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0juBE-ra3A

 

Very informative.