Tag: covid

Since The Bomb Dropped

So much has happened since my last post.

“The Ugly American” stereotype was the understatement of them all. We were going backwards and showing our ugly side, handicapped by a retaliatory gesture to thwart progress made during the Obama era and preserve dying industries like coal while propping up our racist roots. People lost the ability to be civil, work together and decipher what’s real vs. manufactured with an angle on the news front.

Surface-level indicators like unemployment % and stock market gains were touted by the nationalistic administration. Under the surface, however, the seams were bursting and blood was boiling.

Our approach to the pandemic, now a year in, has made us the world’s pincushion. We pushed to keep business and life normal while the virus took over and such a short-sighted approach has cost us now over 500,000 (of the over 2 million global) lives and counting with all kinds of collateral damage including a mounted financial debt (and even more foreboding, mental health debt).

I had a near breakdown in April when reading into the trajectory and impact it would have on sports and entertainment, where my company does business. Sure enough, many of these tea leaves turned out although sports did find a way to return – to entertain, distract or for some, employ us.

Hateful conspiracy theory-spewing groups like QAnon have thrived on spreading misinformation and cling to holding the pandemic around as long as possible by demonizing masks, covid-19 vaccines and preying on the vulnerable.

Oh, did I mention that my own college-educated uncle and aunt reached out last week – in February of 2021 mind you. Somehow, they have come under the impression from these conspiracy theorists that covid is a hoax and ploy. Meanwhile, my year of staying home sequestered aside from masked errands and my ski release caught up to me and that as I write this, I’m battling the virus myself – or “the flu” in their eyes. My wife the social worker had a real scare tied to her work in the schools as a result of also picking up the virus.

The irony…

Is it all doom-and-gloom, though?

No, there is a silver lining. Stay tuned for more.

Global Reckoning Period – Adapt or Die

Speaking of stalled aspirational progress, as we are all now acutely aware of, the global economy hit a screeching halt by way of a COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.

Ramifications and the related coverable topics are endless.

A globalized reckoning, which was anticipated to happen at some point by the experts, caught us all on our heels and we couldn’t react quickly enough to put it to bed before massive loss of lives and economic progress resulted.

What are we learning in the process?

  • Leadership and the ability to listen, emphasize and unite matters more than ever – without it, everything can unfold.
  • Heroes come in all shapes and sizes.  The true heroes pulling us out of this mess are the service workers on the front-lines putting lives on the line to save their brethren (nurses, doctors, EMTs, social services, teachers, grocery store and “essential business” workers).  These folks deserve every accolade, perk and quality of live improvement possible.
  • Globalization Revisited – it doesn’t matter if your GDP is greatest in the world if you can’t stock or make the basics to save your people (ie. PPE’s like aprons, masks, gloves, etc.)
  • We need to focus on the industries, tactics, practices and strategies proven to sustainably benefit the masses.   Sometimes it’s time to stick in that fork and move on vs. continuing the life support.

Personally and professionally, we are all at a crossroads.  Adapt or die (figuratively and literally so, sadly).

It’s a group exercise, too.  One outlier can derail the recovery progress for the masses.  We are all ready for the economy to return to normal – your non-distanced protests only hurt our chances to get there.

How we prepare today will impact tomorrow.  It is well worth the extra few weeks of staying at home to not set ourselves back months more.

If all you have to give is goodwill and positive thoughts, pay it forward, spread it (especially while staying at home!) and the returns will multiply and help get us all back on our feet.