There was something in the air today again, no pun intended. It was more about something was missing in the air. It took me a little while to realize the absence of air traffic noise.
The last time I heard that lack of noise was living in New York City after 9/11. The time before that was when I was a kid roaming the hills of my native south of France. There weren't a lot of airplanes above our heads then. Life simply was. There was a Universe of things to do outside.
I'm seeing something amazing happening in our Southern Californian city. People are talking to one another. People are sitting outside in parks with babies. People are engaging with one another. I've met people I had only seen before but never spoken. Yes, people are worried. Many are losing their jobs, others learning to work from home. But overall, people are communicating, talking to one another. Boy, people sound like fun again!
Our mayor is astonished that people are not staying at home. I'm stunned he's stunned. Why would they? After spending all their time chasing money, running around, they have downtime. Why would they stay at home? They're going out and seeing others doing the same. They are getting acquainted with quality of life.
But, yes, people shouldn't congregate on the busy beach path and playing sports in close contact outside. I see parties braving the imposed "social distancing". Staying a few feet away from one another means squelching the pandemic spread of the virus. That puts all of us at risk.
Are we having a taste of what quality of life is? Could it have been something as devastating as a fast-spreading virus to do that?
Either way, some are electing to risk lives, others stay at home and some are careful. Isn't that life, a gigantic quantum kaleidoscope?
