The Winter of Our Discontent

Borrowing from the title of John Steinbeck’s last book who in turn borrowed from the first two lines of William Shakespeare’s Richard III, our country has certainly fallen into a state of exhaustion, not so much from moral decay as from decrepitude from social isolation and pandemic angst. The coronavirus has evolved into Omicron, a more contagious but apparently less virulent variant compared to Delta. With its detection in the US in November, a surge of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths has once again developed, although more cases and hospitalizations than deaths. While in the fall restaurants and theatres were opening up, the winter has shut down many public events. Airline cancellations have made travel a nightmare; who wants to face days of lumbering around an airport while awaiting a standby flight to or from a destination? Social media shows folks smiling as they manage to escape to a sunny beach, a brief respite from the insanity that continues in our daily lives. Many corporations ordered folks back to the office in the fall only to backtrack and okay working from home once again. Despite gargantuan shipping blockages in ports from Long Beach to Shanghai, the great Christmas Scrooge did not happen; and consumers were able to buy ever more electronics, apparel, toys, and cars, a cosmetic panacea for our ills. The classroom is open once again, albeit with frequent COVID-19 case shutdowns; yet many kids are being left behind, not just intellectually a year or two, but also impaired from the ongoing social isolation and dependence on TikTok and Instagram for their emotional needs and gratification. Zoom is not how kids are meant to socialize, yet it is a staple of life now. How are we to “get our life back” as folks like to say?