I know no one probably wants to hear another word about this stupid virus that had taken over the world. But, given that this is my blog, it’s the platform for me to add my two cents. 

And you know what they say about your two cents, right? Your two cents and a $1.49 will get you a soda down at the corner store. Yeah, I know. But I’m still giving them out.

I personally think the entire thing is a massive multi-trillion dollar load of crock. 

There. I said it. Yes, I get there is a virus out there that no one knows how to handle. But, first of all, this isn’t Ebola. The only people that are dying from this, are people that already have health complications. Contracting the virus complicates their health conditions, and results in death. That’s terrible and I feel for them and their families. 

But, my understanding of this thing, is that it’s pretty much advanced pneumonia or the flu. I’ve never had pneumonia, but I get the flu once every five or six years. It sucks. But you stock up on a few over the counter meds, lay in bed for 2 or 3 days, and whine and moan, and try to watch TV, but you can’t concentrate cause you feel like dog poop, so you fall asleep. And then, after a couple of days, you’re good as new and it’s all over. 

End of story. 

Nothing to shut down the economy over, and in my opinion, not even worth getting a vaccine for. In fact, I’m terrified of needles and blood, and hospitals, doctors offices and pretty much anything that goes on those places. So, getting vaccines is an epically embarrassing and painful endeavor in which I crawl until a ball, and hyperventilate with alternating hot and cold flashes until I actually faint.  

This is why I laugh really hard every time someone suggests I should get a flu shot “just to be safe.” No thanks. I’ll roll the probability dice on whether or not this is going to be a flu year. 

I hope this thing doesn’t end with a law on mandatory Corona vaccines. God, it would suck to be a grown woman moaning on the floor while a doctor holds a needle and a line of paranoid patients waits “six feet” behind me with their face masks. 

I think I’d prefer jail. 

Now, I do know that back in the day, Word War I era to be exact, the influenza epidemic was a horrible time. I know that’s true, I’ve read about it years ago. But first of all, medical science has evolved eons since then. Secondly, not even President Wilson shut down the country. In fact, while New Yorkers were dying, he was signing the Treaty of Versailles that capitalized on our success during the war, and officially set us up as a dominant world power–a position that we still largely enjoy today. 

And why are we going back that far anyway? We have much more recent examples of successful government responses to public health emergencies.

Bush, for example, dealt with SARS. It was under his administration, that we learned about the very existence of biological warfare. In fact, during his time in office, there were people mailing anthrax to the government. 

And he didn’t do this.

Then Obama dealt with both the avian flu and the swine flu during his administrations. I detested everything about the Obama administration. 

But at least he didn’t do this.

Trump is a businessman, for crying out loud. I voted for him solely on the fact that I felt that as a businessman, he had a high respect for the economy, and he would enact legislation to bring back the old school Daddy Warbucks capitalism that was on life support after eight years of thinly veiled socialism under Obama. 

Instead, under his administration we shut down our economy and plummet further into our national debt. I guess we’re so screwed over with the national debt, I don’t think it even matters anymore. I won’t lie, though. I did enjoy the free $1,200 that arrive d in my bank account yesterday. It paid my rent. 

But, beyond that, here’s the thing. I live in a small town that prides itself on its entrepreneurial spirit. Everyone’s got a small business. In normal life, It’s inspiring. 

But, now, it’s heartbreaking. I walk into empty businesses and anxious owners wring their hands hoping for a sale to boost the plummeting numbers. I feel bad that I can only buy the $5.99 special. I wish I could do more. But, I’m laid off too, man. I work for a corporate clothing store. We’re about as nonessential as it gets. They look grateful anyway and we shoot the breeze about the president and the governor. 

Community building. 

Lately, though, it’s been worse. The business owners look dead and resigned. They don’t shoot the breeze anymore. They just numbly wander off toward their offices to check the figures. The dreams they had of early retirement seem to be drowning in a sea of bank loans and government bail outs. 

And the whole thing feels like we’re being lied to, or not being told the whole truth. Like, this is some sort of sting operation to set up the masses for true socialism? Or, I’ve heard conspiracy theories that it’s an excuse to set up a vaccine that will reduce the global population to a more controllable number. Or this is a test run to prepare us for a biowarfare attack. 

For some reason, those seem more plausible than shutting down American life because a flu-like virus that his killed 45,000 in a country of more than 328 million. (That was the latest figure I found in a Google search today). 

Luckily, we’re almost at the end. And hopefully, we can put this all behind us. 

There you go, my two cents. Now all you’re missing is $1.49 and you can get yourself a soda. Now who says there’s no money in blogging?