It is Thursday, April 23, 2020. We are in for a warm sunny day here in Houston. All three of the cats are running around the backyard chasing squirrels and each other. Potatoe is on his pillow bed next to my desk, and the boys are in the living room enjoying their morning reading time. I suppose that it is an ordinary morning in the “New Normal”.
We have now reached 46,785 deaths in the US due to the virus, no idea the validity of that number. One article reported that a study has found that nearly all of those that died in fact had underlying health conditions, no idea the validity of that study. Another 4.4 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the past week. That is a verifiable number, and the number of people that file for unemployment does not fully represent the number of people that have lost their jobs.
Our world is truly in the middle of a crisis. The uncertainty that surrounds us all is daunting. I fear our government is overstepping its bounds by shutting down our businesses, and now ordering us to wear face masks in Harris County. This is just two of many frightening examples. I fear that politicians are more worried about their own agendas than doing what is right for America.
I fear our futures from an economic and mental health perspective. What will the job market be like for our kids graduating college over the next five years? I graduated during the “dot com” bust, and I watched so many frustrated graduates take jobs that had nothing to do with their degrees, so they would have a paycheck. I think that things will be much worse for graduates in the years to come.
I fear the world turning a blind eye to what China has done. I fear war with China.
Everything that worries me today is something that I have absolutely no control over. I imagine that many feel the same. The one thing that we can do is to continue to pray that our country’s leaders will come together for the good of America.