Rewrite: Re-Create!

I love words with two (or more!) meanings. They're the kind of words clever comics use to come up with jokes; they're the words subversives use to criticize tyrannical governments; they're the words groups like the Everly Brothers sang to plead their case: "If I said you have a beautiful body would you hold it against me?"

Today's title double-entendre, "Re-create" could mean "to create anew" and also to play, as the root of "recreation." As I write this, Italy has locked down their whole country and Norway is closing most businesses. Panic continues to spread as fast or faster than the coronavirus itself. With events and flights being cancelled and kids home-schooling by fiat, nerves are fraying.

Which reminds me of my friend Dave Robertson's favorite jokes: A rope walks into a bar and orders a beer. Bartender says, "We don't serve your kind." The rope steps outside, twists himself all up and unravels his ends, then heads back in. He again orders a beer. Bartender says, "Wait a second. Aren't you a rope?" Rope replies, "Nope. I'm a frayed knot."

Having just finished a teleconference with a few dozen ACCJ members, led by the SME Advisory Council, we all have more questions than answers. And now, unlike my last blog, we all know Tom Hanks and the Canadian Prime Minister's wife have been infected, and we've all been affected by the fear. When whole countries go on "lockdown," it's serious. A big question remains, "Is this virus going to go away or is this the new normal?"

I don't remember what specifically improved so that the SARS and Bird Flu scares subsided. Vaccines were made, but do any of us take them? So is the panic really due to the fact that we don't have a vaccine? What we need is effective treatment, and with the mortality rate where it is, it seems that 1st World countries have that already. And since the vast majority who catch the virus will have minor or "no" symptoms is cause for concern (because they could still infect vulnerable hosts) but also cause for "business as usual." We're not going to be testing everyone, are we? To what end?

Meanwhile, let's do what we can to 1) stay healthy, the best defense against the virus, and 2) re-create! Gold's gym in Tokyo is still open, I'm working on new songs with a new recording software, I'm getting outside, and still attending in person meetings, just not big gatherings.

I feel for those already hit harder by the virus and the scare, and hope, as we all do, that Corona is soon back to being just the beer we order with lime. As a wise Persian fable says, "This too shall pass."