No offense intended to the millions of people who live in New York city. Don’t take this personally. I’m not intending to insult or demean you.
I don’t want to live in New York. I don’t want to live in Chicago, Los Angeles, Baltimore, St. Louis, San Francisco or any gigantic city. So I don’t. I live in the enormous space between cities. I live in that wretched place you fly-over on your way to civilization. I live where nothing happens (except food production).
That’s by choice! I live here intentionally. As an American citizen, I could live in New York if I wanted. But, like I said, I don’t want to. I know that boggles your mind. You can’t understand why I choose my quiet township over the city that never sleeps.
So this COVID-19 thing is an opportunity for personal growth! You can come out of this pandemic a more sympathetic person. You can gain perspective. That’s gotta be worth something. Maybe not a month’s salary, but something.
Imagine if, instead of the Coronavirus, we had discovered the “Corn Silk Virus”. This virus spreads from contact with corn plants. It’s very contagious. Any contact with corn can transfer the virus. Even breathing the pollen will give it to you.
We’re not sure how many people have Corn Silk Virus so we’re guessing at mortality rates. We’re guessing at infection rates. We’re guessing at everything. It’s possible that this virus could wipe out millions of people. So far, it hasn’t. But it COULD.
To be safe, everyone in New York needs to take precautions:
- Do not touch corn plants
- Do not stand closer than 6 feet to corn plants
- Do not ingest corn plants
- If you feel sick, stay home.
- Wash your hands
- Cover your cough
And one more thing: Shut down your life for a couple of months. Don’t go to work. Don’t go to school. Cancel church services. No traveling. No gatherings. Close restaurants, bars, bookstores, libraries, and every public place except hospitals.
You good with that?
Or would you raise your hand and say:
“Um…there’s no corn within a zillion miles of where I live. Why are you treating New Yorkers like people who live on farms?”
Good point, my urban friend. Excellent point, in fact!
Now, put yourself in my shoes. (This is the part where you gain perspective). My virus protocol is the same as yours. I’m not crammed shoulder to shoulder with my neighbors. Why am I being treated like a New Yorker?
At this point, you will say that Coronavirus is very contagious and public gatherings will spread it whether they happen in Manhatten or Po-Dunk, Kansas so taking precautions saves lives. And you would be correct.
Maybe…
Truth is, we don’t know. As of this writing, the mortality rate of Coronavirus is a big question mark. The data is still being collected. And we’re never going to have ALL the data. You understand (don’t you?) that it’s impossible to know how deadly the virus is without knowing many people had it.
If total isolation is necessary to “flatten the curve” in New York, then totally isolate yourself. I don’t live in New York because I don’t want to live like a New Yorker. Here in fly-over country, we can wash our hands, cover our mouths, and get on with our day. Social distancing is a way of life.
I don’t expect New Yorkers to change their lifestyle when there’s a farmland emergency. Likewise, it is irrational to shut-down country restaurants when a crisis erupts in The Big Apple.
5 Responses
I was going to make the same point that Jeff did above. I went to an extremely rural college in Western NY, about 8 hours away from NYC and a good half hour’s ride from a stop light. So many of my college friends still live in NY, and I would say that about 70% of the state is extremely rural. So many people from my college get irritated when people assume that the entire state of NY looks just like NYC, and most of them would prefer That NYC become its own state.😁
That said, it is my understanding that Covid is spreading across all parts of our country, rural and urban alike. Here, in the south, they are afraid it is going to really hit hard. Up in Ohio, where my family lived for many years, Governor Dewine is taking all kinds of precautions because the virus is running rampant. Am I missing something?
“Am I missing something?”
That’s the big question! All we know is what we’re told and what we’re told is, “We don’t know how this is going to play out.” At some point, we should expect to see hospitals overrun and bodies piling up in the morgues. If that doesn’t happen, I hope we’re allowed to go back to church…
Well said … but you forgot to mention that NYC isn’t really New York either. We here in western New York are just as much rural as your Indiana farmlands! And I agree that it’s stupid to quarantine Upstate New York (and steal our hospital supplies, medical workers, police, and firefighters for NYC’s benefit … but that’s another story) just because idiots in NYC still crowd the subways during rush hours. All we ask is to be left alone (and left out of any discussion where we could get lumped in with the Bad Apple).
I’m sorry, but nobody outside of your state believes there is any rural aspect to New York. There is only the city. That is all we know.
I agree, Jeff. We just moved to Corning, NY last year from Virginia and when we told people we were moving here, they ALL said, “what do you want to do that for?”. It’s beautiful here, just like where we moved from! But they all think the state is just like NYC!