Rant #2,539: Maneater

I just don't know about the coronavirus.

Is this the modern coming of the plague, or is its wrath being overstated?

Like I said, I just don't know.

Several states have called for their own respective "state of emergency" over the disease, so many other municipalities have issued their own orders related to combating the disease, and people are in a panic frenzy over it, and whether they can get it or not.

Athletes are not glad handing fans or fellow players anymore, they are being told to only sign autographs with their own pens ... and people are not shaking hands anymore, athlete and non-athlete alike.

And then you have the other side of the coin, where politicians are going the lowest of the low, blaming other politicians for their "inactivity" about the disease, and you have hucksters looking to make a buck driving up "cures" for the disease--including the price of disinfectant, hand sanitizers and the like--to record prices.

Sales of Corona-brand beer have supposedly fallen due to its name, and will Corona, Queens, have to change its name in order to survive this panic? Will Corona residents be treated as lepers?

And you also have travel-related entities--including cruise ship lines--quaking in their boots as people cancel their trips, and some are giving passengers incredible incentives to stay on board with their voyages.

Further, go try to find a surgical mask to wear, something that has become a "red badge of courage" in the midst of this hysteria but which won't actually protect you from anything.

Is this a media-driven frenzy or is there really something out there that we have never seen before?

Knock the country as much as you like, but we have health measures here that are second to none by world standards.

However, now that we have become a true global world--where people travel from one point to another on a regular basis--we are dealing with people and cultures that simply have other, lower standards than we do.

This virus supposedly was first seen in Asia, perhaps in China, the world's biggest populace and probably the one point on the planet that needs top-notch health regulations.

As much as we like to say we are one world, we are truly different worlds when it comes to sanitation, health and what we eat for dinner.

There is speculation that this virus came from China, and is related to what many Chinese consider to be delicacies, but are actually harmful when eaten. I don't know if this is true or not, but I do know that people from other areas of the world have completely different dietary habits than we do.

I am not saying that what we, as Americans, eat is perfectly safe either, but it seems that those in other areas usually eat what is available, have done so for generations, and if this illness is animal/food borne, it has finally caught up with us as humans.

Look, we have dealt with other supposedly deadly diseases in the past, everything from different strains of the flu to ebola. We have generally survived as a people.

But this is the first such disease that I can remember that is being fueled by Internet/social media hysteria, and that makes it all the more worse than it really and truly is.

Some of out leaders fuel the cause by speaking out of two sides of their mouths, saying on one hand that it is not as bad as it appears to be, but on the other hand, tell us measures that have been taken to try to stem the illness from spreading as it already is.

Honestly, as I said, I do not know what to believe at this point.

I am concerned to the point that I asked my wife if her bank is giving out gloves to her and her fellow bank tellers yet, because one of the most virulent spreader of sickness is, or course, money.

But on the other hand, I seem to think that this is like a new strain of the flu, where yes, some people are going to get it and get it good--some fatal--and others will get it, and within a week or so, it will be gone.

Should we be concerned? Yes, we should.

Should we be panicked? No, we shouldn't.

Like with the flu, we will learn how to best combat this disease, and how to contain it, but it is going to take some time.

My wife gave me hand sanitizer to carry around, and she gave it to my son, too. She wants us to use it at any given moment.

If I ever get a job interview, will I be able to shake hands with the interviewer, or if I extend my hand, will it be rejected?

I don't really know.

Try to have a great weekend, and we will speak again on Monday.