Remember that line? It ended in airline, of course. Mine would end,”…an epidemic.”
I am itching to write out our three hour civil war and how I am sure that part of it was an inside job or certainly inside enabled. Witness newly elected Colorado Congresswoman who is a Q’anon follower and came “dressed to kill” that day wearing a side arm yelling to all who’d listen where the 80 something year old Speaker of the House was. Brave one that she is at 30 something. But as some responsible reporters continue to tell us, there is a second major event still going on in our lives, still killing people at stupendous rates, still jamming hostipals, still wearing thin our health workers, Yes it’s that pesky Covid-19 that our suddenly reclusive president told us would be a piece of cake to handle. The Army was all ready. We could ask “for what?” but let’s leave that for another day.
Let me share with you, commiserate with you, what is going on around us. Friends of mine all came down with the illness after being exposed to someone who was exposed who didn’t bother to mention that. Fortunately it wasn’t fatal to any of them. There’s the Florida pediatrician who got his first shot but had already contracted the virus and died. Basically one could say we’re dropping like flies from 9 to 90, maybe because we’re profoundly stupid. Others died because they were profoundly unlucky.
The inconsistencies in the system are driving people to drive great distances to find a vaccine. A friend’s adult child found two slots in a small Texas town. Not wanting to risk an airplane ride, they drove about a thousand miles for their first shot and in three weeks will do it all over again.
Florida, in the midst of its snow-bird season, is shooting up anyone with the fortitude to get an appointment. That’s not easy to do since the state has a backlog of 40,000 people already registered. Then there’s the technology. Sites go up and site go down. In some places they open at 8am, others at 9am. Uniformity is not part of this game. The Supreme Court rules in many cases, many years ago that some services were so large or so critical that they had to belong under the Federal umbrella rather than the state’s. Apparently this president didn’t think a pandemic was big enough or critical enough to bring all of us under one plan with one set of rules.
Take me, please. Ever try to book a cheap flight on an airline and have it disappear under your finger? That happened to me as I was about to book an appointment. To add insult to injury, then the site crashed. Must have been the Russians. And if you are married everything has to be done in duplicate. I guess no one was smart enough to put together one form fits two folks application.
I have sitting before me five phone numbers. These are different from the eight others I have. Where did I get them? Word of mouth from friends wiser or stronger than I. Now I must admit, I have two slots. It’s just that they are in Orlando; I am in Boca Raton. It’s about a four hour drive. Better than Texas but not great. The appointments are mid-day so we will have to sleep over and then do that again. And I’m not a big Disney World fan either.
I assume this will end well, just not quickly. It leaves me with a final question: Would you buy a used car from this man?
No–at least from my perspective.
To use last year’s buzzword, transparency, I must admit, I’m being cuddled through it by a nice upper-moderately priced scotch. I wish you good luck, good health, and a shot of whatever it takes to get you through.
Comments