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Scranton column: COVID-19 fear won’t be the thing that defeats us

Lance Scranton
Courtesy photo

COVID-19 is having all kinds of unplanned effects on the economy, which has impacted so many people that it is difficult to even imagine how much different things might look as we wrestle our way out of this pandemic.

Most of the holds on our professional life were instituted by some very smart people who advised the leaders in our country that if we didn’t act, hospitals would be overwhelmed and there would be a casualty rate not seen since the Civil War. Then, we all decided to do something really cool!

As is always the case in America, we determined that if people who know what they are talking about have our best interests in mind, no matter our particular political or religious affiliation, we would do what we needed to in order to save our lives and the lives of others.



So, we hunkered down and waited and watched as places all over the country began seeing the virus creep through our country, and the world. We made sacrifices so that others might not have to experience the potential fallout from a disease not seen since 1917. And, as we watched something strange began to emerge!

People began saying that perhaps some of the projections might not have been as accurate as previously thought. Experts with differing opinions started showing up on talk shows saying that the trade-off for trying to slow the spread of this particular pandemic was, perhaps, not completely worth losing our economic, psychological, and spiritual health. Hunkering down and just waiting for the virus to pass over us like some biblical, Moses-type nightmare that we would be spared from was beginning to get a little bit more frustrating as the days passed.



Then, some of the people took to the streets!

People demonstrated, and gathered, and spoke about the possibility that if we were to continue down the path we were on there might not be much to come back to once the virus had been defeated. Some of the experts derided such foolish thinking, but others thought that maybe these people were onto something.

People weren’t sure who to believe and what should be done. Doubt started to creep into the minds of those who were elected to keep us safe. Then, a few states decided that it was time to start trying to get back to something close to normal. And that’s when it finally happened!

COVID-19 was defeated! Not the effects – it is still a dangerous killer. Not common sense – we still need to be smart about what we do. Not sadness and mourning – any death is a tragedy and always difficult to accept.

But, people decided that a fast-moving pandemic could only defeat us entirely if it lived 24/7 in our minds. Slowly, the country began to realize that at some point we have to, for the good of everyone, creep out of our quarantined mindset and start living again.

It will be slow; we are all still a bit scared, and we look at each other a little bit differently these days. But many people have decided that fear won’t be the thing that defeats us.

COVID-19 has ravaged our mindset, and made us do things much differently than we have in the past but we’ll get through this and hopefully there will be stories told that make us proud of how we handled this latest pandemic.


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