Sun, sand, Corona, anyone?
How can I continue without saying something about Covid-19? A year ago, a worldwide pandemic was probably the furthest thing from our minds. You couldn’t pick up a newspaper or tuned into the local and national news without something being said about our current and outgoing Commander-in-Chief, President Donald Trump. This man has been our president for the last four years and been under fire of some kind for just about every day of his presidency. Oh no, I’m not choosing sides, either for or against him, what he has done, said or any decision he may have made during his time in office. So much of what we use to form our opinion of him, or any president are influenced, if not steered by newspaper and television. Is that true or not? Personally, I don’t know him, haven’t met or ever will, I suppose. You? Impeachment? Hmm, where did we hear THAT word used before with a former president, Monica? As it will be with any president, past, present and future, there will be those who like what he or she (if she gets her way) are doing and those that won’t. So, which side do you suppose the loudest voices will be coming from? And who ever heard of unbiased “news” reporting? I have strayed so let me steer myself back to the real reason I write tonight.
Corona beer? Corona virus. Executives of the company that make the beer were probably not real happy to have a virus with the same name. First mention of the virus and beer sales dive, then slowly begin to recover when people realize that a few cold beers, including Corona, helps them relax, feel good and take their mind off the pandemic. Of course, I don’t know any of this for a fact. I just made that up. But what a situation we are in. Who would have thought a year ago that we would be required, yes, that’s right, required to wear a mask everywhere? We’ve gone from nearly a year ago, hearing about the virus in China, watched the news of the eventual spread worldwide, experienced fears of this becoming a pandemic, and here we sit in January, 2021, mandatory mask wear in effect, over 3 million worldwide deaths to date and with no idea of how many more will become ill or lose their lives before the numbers drop to a point where it won’t be big news anymore. It’s a nightmare we are all sharing. The financial impact that this virus has caused? Beyond measure, for sure. To some degree, I suppose every person has felt and/or continues to feel the effects, some more than others. Loss of jobs, income, businesses no longer able to survive and shutting down forever. There is a flip side to this though. Someone is always going to find a way to profit from any given situation and this is no exception. As an example, one can buy a face mask at just about any store nowadays and the creativity of these mask creators is truly amazing. Animal faces, smiling faces, major sports teams, Nike, and everyone jumps in to get a piece of the pie and exploit this chance to make some money from the CoVid-19 situation. Yard sales, flea markets and online (Amazon, for instance) offer endless varieties of masks, manufactured in mass quantities or that people have produced at home on their little sewing machines. Making a positive out of a negative, isn’t that what it’s called? That’s the American way. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not judging, I’m just saying. Shall we mention the “race for the cure/treatment” as large pharmaceutical companies worked around the clock to be the first to create and get FDA approval on a vaccine to be distributed (sold) for treatment of the symptoms of the virus. Is it all motivated by a desire to help? Maybe, in a perfect world that would be true. But if you think that huge dollar signs aren’t flashing in the minds of those who stand to benefit, then you may be naive and you may not be invested in pharmaceutical stocks. If not a vaccine, then what? I certainly don’t have that answer. So where we are now, with vaccines approved and being distributed to the masses, with long-term side effects yet to be realized, we cross our fingers and hope the number of people sickened and killed by this virus takes a turn for the better and is finally controlled to a point of being worthy only of back page mention, instead of front page news. There must be something more going on in this world besides the virus and Donald Trump. (Sorry, I just had to throw him back in there).