Nancy's Notes
The ugly, the bad, and the good
Recently I sat down and brainstormed with three of my weirdest friends — Me, Myself and I — and made a list of things that happened in the past year, not necessarily related to or because of the coronavirus or the 2020 Election. What follows below, in no particular order, are the events or situations that we came up with. And while my thoughts are in no particular order, the order of the categories is intentional: I want to get “the ugly” over with, and end with “the good.” I don’t care whether you agree with me or not; this is my list, and I’m sticking to it. So here goes.
The Ugly: millions of lives lost due to COVID-19; •family members not able to be with family in hospitals and nursing homes; •false information; •panic buying; •hoarding of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, paper towels, bottled water, bread, and even yeast; •anxiety and stress; •tanked economy; •jobless rates; •unemployment claims at historic highs; •the 2020 campaign that seemed to never end; •loss of common decency in U.S. political system; •the killing of George Floyd; •impeachment of President Trump; •endless and deadly demonstrations; defamation and destruction of historical monuments and statues; •inequities in healthcare; •COVID-19 affecting a disproportionate number of Blacks; •the loss of so many shopping malls, small businesses and large retail stores; •restaurants closed, many for good; •people showing up at demonstrations with guns; •gun sales in the U.S. spiked, with many of those sales to first-time gun owners; •wildfires on the West Coast; •the Speaker of the House casually ripping up President Trump’s State of the Union speech; •increase in crime and domestic violence...
The Bad: total lack of structure in our lives; •departure from our scheduled routines; •isolation; •not taking care of yourself, ie. wearing pj’s all day (wait, does this really need to be on the ‘bad’ list?); •NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter killed in helicopter crash; •becoming totally immersed in our devices; •arguing about masks and COVID facts; •fear and anxiety, leaving us feeling stressed, anxious, powerless over the direction of our lives; •oil prices hitting all-time lows; •murder hornets; •not exercising; •snacking out of boredom; •people talking about how much weight they’ve gained; •death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; •only three U.S. states (Alaska, Hawaii, North Dakota) weren’t part of a billion dollar weather disaster; •record-breaking, 30 named storms in the Atlantic Hurricane season, having to resort to letters of the Greek alphabet after running out of prepared names; •so many major events cancelled; •taking my husband to the ER, then watching as the ambulance carried him south to Hays while I went north to go home...
...and finally, The Good: the public’s deep appreciation of all healthcare professionals, teachers, and the education system; •taking care of each other; •checking on elderly neighbors; •musicians giving virtual concerts; •being more “in touch” with family and friends through Zoom, Facetime, Skype, video chat, etc.; •live-streams of everything, from workouts to concerts, school events to graduations; •a “healing of the earth” due to fewer cars on the road, less planes in the sky, less people littering the streets; •a panda born at the National Zoo; •focus on essential workers such as grocery store stockers, cashiers, delivery drivers, etc.; •many virtual tours available, such as museums and zoos, climbing the steps of Mayan ruins in Mexico without leaving your recliner; •lifestyle changes; •a good time to stop and think about what really matters; •Steve Kornacki in his khakis, delivering election news; •time to enjoy walking the dog; •the love and companionship of our four-legged family; •improving the Internet due to sudden demand, forcing services to make rapid updates and install more servers; •not having to stress out about the house being in a mess, because no one is going to come over anyway; •less crime because less people are out in public; •Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the Royal Family to become “normals”; •time to read, listen to podcasts, binge watch a series; •trying new recipes; •learning a new craft; learning how to bake •spending more time with the kids...
Obviously I could go on and on, and so could you. I’m just glad my “Good” list exceeded the “Bad” and “Ugly.” I always knew that 2020 would be a memorable year, just because of the numbers; I just didn’t know it would be THAT memorable! We pray for a better, healthier new year!
