Talk about change in a short amount of time – wow! The community-wide, statewide, nationwide, worldwide attention to combatting and controlling COVID-19 is the first time in my lifetime I’ve seen such mass cohesion towards a goal.
Watching the news with a friend aged mid-eighties, the comment was made, “I haven’t seen or felt anything like this since World War II”.
It sent a shiver through me. Suddenly the family stories of those times resonated truer in my memory. My parents were married in 1940; an era coming out of the depression and entering peak war years. Sharing of resources for family and country was commonplace.
I heard stories of my uncle’s young family moving in with my then childless parents to make ends meet. And the time extended family pooled their allotted ration stamps for gasoline so my mother’s younger sister and her new husband could have a small holiday after their wedding.
Taking advantage recently of senior hours at a local grocery store, I noticed a posted sign: “Bread is limited to two loaves per customer. Thank you”. In WWII, ration stamps were allotted in varying categories for different types of products: meat versus bread, household products and so forth. Victory gardens sprang up around the country.
Efforts to protect the country were part of daily life. Blackout drills at designated times to turn off all lights or pull shades were routine to prepare for possible attack. Organized scrap metal drives were common community projects through schools, boy scouts, or other groups. Paper recycling drives continued for a long time.
People looked continually to their radios and the occasional news reel to stay current on what was going on. They appreciated each other’s efforts. They didn’t know how long it would last or if change would be permanent, but they were in it together.
With COVID-19, the scramble to be responsive, think prudently and shift our way of work and home life has been all encompassing, and very fast. There’s a definite sense of being in it together, everywhere. For the most part, people at stores or passing on the street give berth to allow required space. Family and friends throughout the country and across the globe reach out to express support and provide needed connection.
I’m so impressed with staff at Area Agency on Aging [AAA] and elsewhere going out of their way to assist, support each other and accommodate change while continuing service. Colleagues reach out with ideas to focus expertise or talent in new ways to help people cope with or fight the pandemic. Volunteers flood the lines wanting to know how to help.
Amid horrid uncertainty, the only acceptable way forward is to bond together towards common solutions. I’ve felt the “we can do it” attitude becoming contagious. It’s a good thing.
On a cautionary note, be aware of scammers. A colleague reminded, it’s “…important to keep in mind that scammers never let a good crisis go to waste”. Phishing refers to electronic scams, spoofing refers to phone calls that appear to be from a legitimate government source.
The Federal Trade Commission [FTC] is reporting a drastic increase in bogus emails, texts and calls offering everything from medication shipments, to products for COVID-19 tests, to whatever else to get you to share a social security number or other personal information, credit card number, or click on a link to take you further. When in doubt, just hang up or delete.
Please know the Info-Line for Aging & Disability at 1-800-654-2810 is available and fully staffed. Information on services, some altered for the times is available. Call; maybe we can help.
Take social distancing and stay at home rules seriously. Good luck.