Kickass and abandoned streets

Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that as Phyllis and the keeper ventured forth yesterday to a necessary UW Carbone Cancer Center treatment for Phyllis, they encountered a surreal world of empty streets and sidewalks.

No experience in their long lives is comparable, and their thoughts went to the millions of people stuck in their homes facing a sudden loss of income, restless and–in some cases, hungry kids, and a deep dread of what the future might hold.

Even in the depths of horrible wars, this country’s populace has been isolated from the worst carnage and threats to life.  Not so with the coronavirus, and there is a social cowering unlike anything seen before.  Cowering is not in the national character, but it now prevails as everyone fumbles for the best survival moves.  At Carbone, the usual bustle was absent, but the nurses and other health workers were on duty administering treatment and doing what needed to be done.  They are, of course, the heroes, and along with all the others who keep the survival necessities in place, they are the best and only hope for restoring at least remnants of the national arrogance of invincibility that served so well for so long.  .