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It feels like everything has slowed. There seems to be a consensus that week 5 of quarantine (you’re not sure when they are counting from) has been a bear. Everyone wears a mask. Everyone is on edge. Well, to be more precise, everyone is pissed off in public all of the time. On a run yesterday, there was a couple coming the other way so you went onto the grass next to the sidewalk, and kept running. The woman coming the other way yelled “GET OFF THE PATH!” I guess she wanted me to be in the street. In the store, someone gets testy that you are too close to their cart. Walking the dog a jogger runs around to avoid you, then as she passes yells “THANKS FOR MOVING!”…
It’s beautiful springtime weather, the flowers are blooming, and everyone is outside hating each other. You’ve heard a lot of conspiracy theories, and not that you believe them, but if an authoritarian government wanted to keep everyone on edge, scared, prevent mass assembly, suspend constitutional rights, and force reliance on the state for subsistence, this would be an excellent way to do that.
It seems that a lot of Americans feel this way; there are large protests across the country, with people massing, bearing arms, and demanding that the economy be started again. And our president is… encouraging them. He is publicly tweeting telling them to bear arms and resist their state officials. He is sparring with Andrew Cuomo — NY governor, and superhero of COVID.
It looks like the campaigning for this coming election is going to boil down to a contest of who can be tougher on China. While you don’t mind a bit of anti-globalism, the way blame is being thrown around these days, combined with the desperation and anger across America, you can’t help but be wary of warlike sentiment.
Your life at home is good. You are adjusting to the new way of things, carving out time for yourself, finding some creativity. The yards look A+, and you and the fiance are still enjoying the extra time together. Sometimes you smell a cigarette and you would give anything to go to a bar. Sometimes you daydream about hanging out with friends. You go to the office every once in a while to water the plants, and you pretend it’s just another day in the office.
On Easter Sunday, you and your friends in the neighborhood hid mini bottles of liquor around the streets and did an Easter “Egg” hunt. It seems like baking, doing puzzles, gardening, and drinking are the activities of choice for most Millennials.
What will happen in the economy? Oil prices went negative today, but the Nasdaq has actually gotten back to where it started the calendar year. It’s all Gold right now. Stocks could be good with all of the Fed firehose money, but a lot of them are going bankrupt too. Commodities eventually should get expensive, but might take a year or two. Who really knows if there will be a reflation though, or what it will look like or when. You count your lucky stars, don’t take it for granted that you have a job, a house, some stability right now. It is quite foggy ahead.
