It's 'just' another day at the office

 

"Hi there, me here!" When I lived in New Zealand many moons ago, this was what I would say when I'd ring special friends of mine. My nickname for me from them became, yes indeed, Me here! Funny how memory moments pop into one's head. Although living far from New Zealand I do still have daily contacts and keep up with the happenings in my second homeland.

Hence the thoughts that are drifting in and out of my memory storage. Me here! But not there! There where life looks to be 'normal'. Slightly concerned, but normal. Just an ordinary day at the office.

Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled it is what it is. My family, friends and acquaintances live there. Somehow Down Under is far away enough to keep the pandemic at more than an arms length. Grateful, yes I am grateful.

From where I sit, looking in the distance onto a rather busy road, traffic bustles to and fro and I am wondering- what happened to the 'stay home, work from home and reduce movement decree' therefor minimizing spreading the dreaded lurgy we call Covid19? In March and April the traffic was far less. Are people becoming tired of the restrictions? Do they not care it is taking so long to combat this pandemic? Do they not realize THEY, and not the government, are the reason we haven't beaten this thing? If anyone is to blame for closures, curfews and loss of income, it is those denying the need for caution, for respect for others and just simply being self centered. To all those thinking this is just a scam. Go work in hospitals and medical centers where the nursing staff are barely managing to cope. Go comfort those who lost family members to Covid19 and other illnesses due to the pandemic. For those whose surgeries were postponed.

Anyway, I just had to get that off my chest. To those shouldering the burden en respecting life, chapeau! It isn't easy and not the most fun way to spend months on end. But you are hanging in there for the greater good. Not only are the youth 'losing' a year, so are the elderly, the sick en infirm. No matter what age, putting life on hold isn't a picnic. You know, it's good we honor those who fought for our freedom on the two world wars- but let's just not forget that they did this for the greater good. We can win this battle as long as we stand 'Shoulder to shoulder' like real soldiers.

Stay safe, keep healthy and be supportive of those needing help. Kia kaha! Be strong!

Just spilling my thoughts

It's been a trying time. It's been a revealing time.

Welcome back. These are my thoughts for this morning, the 1st of January 2021! Welcome back after almost a year in which I have spent struggling to grasp the essence of the mentality of people around me. I have decided to call 2020 the year of disappointment. Not in my private world at home, or even with a great number of my friends, but a general observation of the community as a whole.

I feel disillusioned and disappointed. I am a realist, a positive realist yet my faith in people has been sorely tried and damaged in the year just past. Since the virus invaded people's bodies it didn't just make those victims ill, the rest of the people became infected too. But not with a virus that can be vaccinated against by injecting some form of medication.

In that disappointment shelters a sadness, like discovering that what you held dear wasn't as special or worthy of your admiration, commitment or even worthy of the time you gave it.  I have had insights into people's thinking and acting so alien to how I saw them as a person.  I've been mesmerized by the screaming hordes, the verfent disbelievers, the almost anarchist movement who were/are more bent on creating division than unity. What really bugged me about that was, the arrogance of assumptions that this group held/hold was, that  they knew it all better. No-one was going to tell this group of people what they needed to do. NO! Disfunction and disarray was their modes operandi. Creating division, anxiety, and disruption. My humble opinion of course.

And as contradiction: What has held my spirits up and belief in the people around me was, that I have been awed by the dedication and selflessness of so many trying to help those desperate and devastated by the results of the virus on their lives. Not in it for themselves but utilizing their talents, energy and love for people, strangers, before their own comforts and needs. The silent majority, who are so often overlooked, unrecognized and undervalued. They are the mainstay of our society. U~sing their energy to help improve situations giving those they care for stability, hope and a chance at life. They, and they are great in numbers I am glad to report, give me HOPE. My humble opinion of course.

I am not proud of last year for many reasons. Yet is has laid bare something that needs addressing. How do we, as a human race, want to evolve? Last night my husband said, " I am glad I have the longest part of my life behind me. I can look back with pleasure to the type of world I lived in. I am glad I don't have the greatest part in front of me seeing how our society is crumbling and lacking unity and compassion". How sad a statement is that?