In the previous blog I posited that the populace would eventually shrug off social distancing and the rest and go back to work. I noted that this may already be beginning.
Today I had to drive to the bank to make a deposit. I live near LAX and our bank is in the “Valley.” I took the infamous 405. A week ago on a Tuesday I took a similar trip and the freeway was empty. Like no cars. Today it was “Monday light.” That’s what they call it when the schools are closed. The freeway was moving at freeway speeds, but there was considerable traffic. All those cars had to be going somewhere.
I read constantly about there not being enough masks to be used in hospitals. Well, all they have to do is go outside to most any street corner and buy them from the guy who is selling them to anyone who asks. Don’t you just love the entrepreneurial spirit.
It is politically impossible for our leaders to back off the social distancing lock down. They may or may not have been wrong in the first place, or too restrictive, or whatever, but now they cannot change their minds. They might look foolish, and if there is one thing a politician doesn’t want, it is to look foolish. This is true of scientists, too. Better to keep the economy in tatters for another month.
I have great respect for Dr. Fauci. He has an impossible job, in impossible times, and somehow holds it together pretty well. I just wish he would show a tad of optimism sometimes. In times like this, we need it. Constant bad news will make it more difficult to come out of it when we turn the corner, if we haven’t already.
In my blog yesterday I noted there there are ‘black market’ hair cutters out there. Peter asked me how I could get a haircut with the stylists standing six feet away. I told him her name was Edwina Sissorhands.
Oh and I understand that some building owners are ‘forgiving’ monthly parking fees since folks cannot get in to work and park their cars. Are they ‘forgiving’ rent, too, for the same reasons? You know the answer to that.
If you sense some frustration, you are right. We need to get people parking cars again. The chain that connects them, operators, owners, suppliers, architects, consultants, installers, engineers, builders and the like begins there. We can do that by getting folks back to work.
Remember my old adage: Don’t believe what you read in the papers or see on TV. Look out the window.
JVH
