Pandemic, Politics, and Panic (2020 gets historic, February through August)

This is the second installment about the personal and global crises of 2020.

In March, the Coronavirus Pandemic disrupted life around the world. The pandemic also divided America along political lines in an election year like no other. In contrast, the height of the 1918 pandemic was between presidential election years.

Plus, 2020 seemed like the end of a Presidential Reelection campaign that lasted four years. Trump constantly inserted himself into the news cycle with outrageous statements through Twitter. The outrageous assertions continued to shock detractors and some supporters whenever he spoke, as well.

The pandemic and the election hammered 2020 into world history. Plenty of smart people have summarized how these two epic events impacted America and the world. Most say we won’t really know the impact for years. I’m writing from my perspective and experience.

Mental health

Within the overarching chaos of the pandemic and political fusion, there are millions of individual stories with unique pains and experiences. It eroded the mental health of individuals, families, and nations. The pandemic panic plus the election edge compounded individual stress, family stress, and community stress. The blend of new and existing stress, anxiety, and panic has created new levels of trauma that will affect life for a generation or longer.

Mental health cases rose along with the number of COVID cases and deaths throughout the year. Substance abuse cases rose. Physical abuse cases rose. Murder rates increased. Differing opinions exploded, much like 2016 when President Trump was elected.

It will be a long recovery on so many levels: economic, emotional, mental, physical, institutional, national, international and more.

Responding to the pandemic

While the coronavirus caught the world off guard, other developed nations responded better than America. China completely shut down. Italy didn’t and experienced a massive outbreak of cases. In the U.S., states were left to develop their own plans and find their own resources. Varying plans birthed various results. Ultimately, America didn’t respond well because we had no national leadership.

From the beginning, President Trump politicized the pandemic. He flexed his self-proclaimed, individual vitality and intelligence to undermine states and scientists who needed cooperation. But you can’t expect cooperation from someone who thinks it’s all about them. A sociopath can’t fathom cooperation.

A sociopath does hold regular campaign rallies with large crowds. Those loyal, large crowds ignored safety guidance to wear masks and practice social distancing, while faithfully feeding Trump’s ego.

Lies, lies, lies

His unbridled lies met resistance eventually. Facebook and Twitter began to flag Trump’s posts as misinformation in late summer. Some argued it should’ve come much earlier. Two different studies revealed that the vast majority of coronavirus and election misinformation was either generated or magnified by Trump. One of those studies called him the “single largest” transmitter of misinformation about COVID-19. He would end the year spewing lies regarding the 2020 election results, which I’ll address in my next article.

Beyond politicizing a national health crisis, Trump silenced scientific leaders who were trying to deliver accurate information about COVID. As already stated, he spread misinformation quickly and broadly. He helped spread a vast array of rumors: the coronavirus was a hoax, it was just the seasonal flu, it was planned by Democrats to upset his chances of reelection, doctors and experts couldn’t be trusted, miracle cures, and more. His pundits and followers spread his lies like balloons in the wind. People even stated the small percentage of deaths was acceptable in pursuit of herd immunity. We should not have expected anything different. More on that later.

Panicked

My wife and I had a bit of delayed panic when we found out Seattle was one of the early hot spots. We flew to Seattle in mid-February, which is about when cases exploded there.

A week later, I flew to Florida for a convention. Adding to our panic, my wife had emergency surgery. I didn’t sleep the whole night. I returned home in time to pick her up from the hospital. Then came the recovery.

In our families, my wife and I were used to seeing our kids and granddaughter on a weekly basis. When COVID guidelines started, we didn’t see them for almost two months, partly because misinformation spread faster than well-researched and well-measured information from experts.

Working from home

I worked in the citrus industry, which was considered essential. So, our business didn’t stop. On March 12, the company offered the option to work from home. We had a call with all managers. As soon as I hung up the phone, I emailed the CEO. I told him I have Crohn’s Disease and take an immune system suppressant to manage it. I was scared. Gratefully, he allowed me to leave the office that day.

I was so scared because we didn’t know much about the virus that early, so I assumed my medication would put me at higher risk. In an odd twist, I later read that COVID may be an overreaction of the immune system. It seems the medication may actually lessen symptoms should I contract the disease. Either way, I never came down with it.

Anyway, the market for citrus had a huge upswing. Most people believe Citrus helps with cold and flu recovery and assumed it would fend off COVID also. So demand for citrus spiked, causing prices for citrus growers to climb. It wasn’t just citrus flying off the shelves, though.

Retailers told us that every week was like the week before Thanksgiving at supermarkets. Nobody had to tell people who were frequenting stores. Not only were the stores busier, the lack of many items caused panic. Of course, tensions rose as people scrambled for items and navigated their way through increasingly crowded store aisles.

Rush on toilet paper

People searched all over for toilet paper and hand sanitizer. I saw a lot of people using social media and group texts to help each other find the items they needed. Later came posts about do-it-yourself hand sanitizer and masks. I didn’t see any hacks for do-it-yourself toilet paper. Thank goodness!

People actually hoarded toilet paper! It baffled me. Hoarding baffles me, period. People with plenty rushed to stockpile as much food and toiletries as possible. Meanwhile, people who live month to month discovered empty shelves when they finally made it to the grocery store. Somehow though, they weren’t nearly as panicked as the hoarding group. Living with limited resources is called life among the poor.

Hoarding and quacking

Willful ignorance spawned from Trump’s random quack comments and miracle cures. He proclaimed that the summer sunlight would make COVID just magically go away. That wacky idea probably led to his next conceptual cure: zapping patients with light. Also, injecting disinfectant into a patient’s lungs could cure them, according to Dr. Trump. Then, he touted hydroxychloroquine for a while.

Meanwhile, he had a team of experts hoping he would listen to them. Instead, they stood behind him during press conferences shaking their heads at his crazy assertions. A narcissist cannot give away the spotlight. Besides, it was getting in the way of his efforts to discredit academics, scientists, and journalists. “Fake News” became his response to any news outlet that rightfully questioned his statements and policies.

It was a panic-filled, divisive roller coaster ride as Trump and his followers refused to cooperate with safety measures like shelter-in-place, mask-wearing, and social distancing. Often, the declarations of their rights not to cooperate were coupled with the very misinformation pushed by Trump. Republican groups across the country protested by holding mass rallies, religious gatherings, and assaulting workers who were paid to enforce the guidelines. Oddly enough, Trump supporters were broadly white evangelicals.

Trump and most Republicans pushed to reopen businesses. That also turned out to be a quack response to the pandemic. It was too early and COVID-19 cases and deaths surged in the summer.

Dip into depression

At my house, we were glued to the news to learn the latest about COVID-19. The number of cases and deaths in the U.S. climbed faster than any other developed nation.

There came a point when watching the news wasn’t mentally or emotionally healthy for us. We watched, anyway. Seeing the numbers of cases and deaths climb elevated our anxiety. The stories were heart-wrenching. People died in hospital beds without family there to comfort their loved ones or hold each other’s hand one last time.

Eventually, we sat in our living room watching TV, exploring social media, playing games on our phones, and being depressed. Anxiety does that.

While all of the COVID and political chaos was happening, we were also dealing with homeless people and addicts moving in on our next door neighbor. I wrote about that in my last article. We felt some relief when that was over, but required recovery from the emotional and exhausting four months of dealing with the neighbor situation.

I’m not sure exactly what pulled us out of the depression. But we had been practicing meditation the previous few years. We’ve met with spiritual directors, who operated as counselors, healers, and guides to help us navigate how the external circumstances were affecting us inside. That certainly helped us climb in from the ledge.

Between ongoing studies of COVID-19 and misinformation surrounding the pandemic, even the most well-balanced among us wrestled with fear, stress, and anxiety. People who sheltered-in-place felt anxious, restless, confused, alone — isolated. Those who didn’t shelter or wear masks or socially distance felt anxious, restless, threatened, angry — isolated.

Like me, those who could worked from home, which drove the extroverts crazy. So much changed so fast. Kids stayed home from school. People lost their jobs. People lost their businesses. Most of us lost any sense of security. Extroverts, though, lost their much needed human interaction. One of my neighbors went to the store everyday just to talk with other adults. She has five kids.

The digital age explodes

Seems like Disney, DoorDash and Zoom won the year. Technology helped us adjust to the pandemic life. My wife and I used delivery services a lot more for groceries, pharmacy, and meal deliveries. We also started using much more video technology to communicate with each other just like everyone else. We also benefited from streaming technology to entertain us. We bought Disney Plus just to watch Hamilton.

Beyond the panic of a pandemic, friend and family connections endured major stress. We witnessed friends and family angry about guidelines and shutdowns. From what I heard from my friends in that camp, it wasn’t really about wearing masks or social distancing. It was about the government telling them what to do. That never made sense to me. They did what their preferred political leaders told them to do. In my eyes, it wasn’t about the government. It was about partisanship and securing their spot in their social groups. We all act to hold our place in our different communities.

That’s something 2020 has revealed. One of the strongest human motivations moves us to seek approval from our in-groups. Much of the partisan and divisive chatter on social media aims to gain that approval. That’s helped me refrain from the frustrating attempts to debate on social media. It’s a fool’s errand. As either side thinks they can teach or one-up the other side, neither gets what they’re looking for, on the surface.

People are looking more for approval than looking to be right. Of course, every side believes their right.

Then, there were the entertainers, who just stirred things up. The comments sections on Facebook could be quite entertaining from that perspective. Those same comments made me question humanity on some occasions.

Of course, the social media machine loves conflict and controversy. And people love to exchange blows in the comment section of any slightly political post. I entertained myself reading through the comments plenty of times. They made me laugh. They made me cry. There was something for everyone.

We had to mute and unfriend people who demanded someone listen while refusing to listen to others. I can handle conversations about divisive topics, but it’s so rare. Conversation and dialogue are a lost art. Still, I tried to listen to where people were coming from, ask questions, repeat what I heard, then ask if I got it right.

Since many people aren’t practiced in listening, I stopped there. I can’t expect someone to listen to me if they haven’t learned how. At least they have an example, after our little exercise. I never had much faith the lesson to listen would be remembered, much less how to listen.

Human connection

We chose to err on the side of caution. It was a hard choice. We desperately missed that time. We missed our kids and only granddaughter immensely. More than anything else, the lack of connection with our kids was what we cried over.

Time together with family and friends became scarce and more valuable than ever before. After a few months, we started to see friends and family in smaller groups and less frequently than normal. Meanwhile, time together with our immediate family became abundant and challenging.

We connected with our kids digitally more than ever, but continued to get together less frequently. We had Zoom gatherings with friends and church family. We connected with our neighbors on walks or from the front porch.

Every interaction sustained us a little longer. My wife is the extrovert, so she actually needed more verbal interaction than I offered. Even as an introvert though, I needed human connection with a few key people in my life. It has been a real lesson about how important human contact is, especially in a digital age.

A new way of living

On the broader horizon, the public health experts did what scientists do. They learned on the fly. They made recommendations based on the latest observations of the virus. Many people took the medical direction seriously.

Managing the threat of COVID, my wife and I vacillated between staying uber careful and wanting to return to normal. We stayed home. We used delivery services. We spent time outside in our yard, went for walks in the neighborhood, took long drives. We did those things together on the days we weren’t tired of each other!

When we did scratch our itch for normalcy, it was awkward. We went to restaurants, trying to keep six feet of distance. Thankfully, all of those floor stickers six feet apart helped those who just couldn’t keep their distance. I just pointed. No explanation necessary. Not really. I wish it was so simple. Luckily, I never got into it with an anti-masker, but plenty of people did.

Like many people, we took up new projects or practices. For me, I spent more time writing for the art of it than ever. It lifted my spirits and soothed my anxious mind.

My wife knits. She made so many pieces of clothing for adult friends and family and stuffed animals for kids. We didn’t have to spend much on Christmas gifts. Several people got really cool scarves. Our granddaughter got the best of the best, of course. My wife knitted several stuffed animals for her. One of them, a little gray mouse, had a thoughtful look on its face. It wasn’t purposeful. The yarn just came out that way. I named it “Thinker.”

For my part, I welcome more room in line at stores even after this pandemic. I hope the six-foot spacing stays. I hate when people smack into my achilles heels because they can’t comprehend how shopping carts work.

On a grander scale, stores opening, stores closing, then restaurants opening for service outside only made for another layer of confusion in 2020. Small, local business owners complained that large chain stores were deemed essential. Many ignored the orders and remained open, or found new ways to serve their customers and clients.

I’ll be writing about the Fall and Winter in my next piece. There’s just too much to manage in one post.