Blame it on living in my resort bubble. Or perhaps it’s the time spent in a social media bubble full of my fellow liberal, snowflake, coastal elites. Over the past few weeks, I’ve encountered more and more people I know that are following the lead of our Commander-in-Chief. Pushing to downplay the COVID-19 virus and resisting taking simple steps to help, such as wearing a mask.
Maybe this will help some of you better understand the crises the United States faces in fighting this disease with such a leadership void.
Why Are You Being Political? You’re a Travel Blog. Blog About Travel.
Well, ok. I will blog about travel. A congressional report has just been released condemning BOTH Boeing and the FAA for the two deadly 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people. These incidents took place five months apart from each other, but nevertheless, after the 2nd time it happened action was taken. It seems like years ago, but it wasn’t. Remember how many people were up in arms? Passengers vowing never to fly on a 737 MAX. Officials calling for investigation, etc.
A lot of public sentiment has attributed these deaths to a perfect storm of faulty engineering, corporate greed and corrupt/compromised government oversight. That said, there was still federal action taken to ground these planes. (Unfortunately only after international pressures to do so – tarnishing the once stellar reputation of the FAA under the current administration.)
Ok. Get To The Point You Coastal Elite…
So, even though it took five months, there was significant action taken by government to protect passengers. You agree that a plane model which killed that many people in five months required that type of response? Great. What if 50 planes were crashing every week? Would you just let that keep happening?
Well, America – that’s exactly what is happening. If it doesn’t impact us directly, humans have a hard time conceptualizing things of a certain size. Even more so if there isn’t an image to relate to. A viral FB post back in July shared a truly mind blowing analogy to put into perspective how many people are dying from COVID-19 in the US.
As of that FB post in July, 137,000 people had died in four months. That equals the same amount of people who would die in plane crashes, if there were 50 crashes a week. Leaves you speechless, right? As of today, we are just shy of 200,000 deaths. If you update the numbers, we’re now averaging 48 crashes a week.
Imagine if after 6 months, there were still 48 planes crashing every week. Now what if the government came out and claimed they were “successful” and that they were “rounding the corner”? Infuriating, right? Especially since there hasn’t been a federal order issued that helps people (like mandatory face masks) but only hurts them (like when they forced meat plants to remain open).
The Pandemic Isn’t Over Just Because You’re Over It
I too am guilty of falling in a false sense of security. I went to a movie theater right after they reopened. It was empty except for 4 of us, and while it was a risk, we were all masked and far apart. I’ve also gone to Disney World (albeit to report on their re-opening) a blogger has got to pay his bills. What I’m not doing is going to bars or parties, refusing to wear a mask or acting as if sending kids to school is no big deal. I’m literally becoming a plant daddy because I’m spending so much time at home.
I’m not saying that we can’t live our lives – SAFELY & RESPONSIBLY. Nor am I saying we have to remain locked down forever. Personally I’m dying to get back to as many coworking spaces as I can! What I am saying is that no matter how many times you hear it on the TV. No, this pandemic is not rounding the corner. A magical cure is not coming down from Heaven. And, if you want to help fight COVID-19, follow what the SCIENCE says, not the talking heads.
The post If COVID-19 Deaths Were Plane Crashes was first published on Coworkaholic.