There’s more to this Covid-19 virus that meets the eye of the media and of the ordinary person on the street (and there are not too many of the latter).We know of its mortality numbers, impact on employment, travel, etc. but let’s look at other not too obvious changes in our lifestyles it has made. Let’s calm down for a moment and look (strangely enough) at this disease’s positive impact. The American public is not going out to eat any more. As a result, doctors are reporting far fewer cases of patients coming down with kidney stones, acute urinary infections, food poisoning and hernia attacks. Could this be the result of people preparing their own food? Not introducing the salt usually thrown into restaurant food? Of people consuming less sugary drinks, junk foods and drinking more plain, natural water?
It’s for certain that when “eating out” the larger portions prepared to satisfy our cravings and return us to our usual table at our favorite eating place, has addicted us to overeating, affecting our health and well being. Preparing our own foods has helped us to get back to the days when our families, short on funds, use their kitchens as warm, congenial gathering places to enjoy good, hearty, healthy meals……together. Another (rare) positive pandemic related statistic is we’re getting reports that highway fatalities and injuries have dropped due to the reduction in traffic caused by this pandemic. Sadly, of course, fewer people are driving to work, taking their kids to schools and activities. Some times, good things come out of bad situations.
We’ve also noted that divorce lawyers and psychoanalysts have reported an increased number of marital breakups due to couples now being forced to live in such close proximity. Marriages, already shaky, have fallen apart. Couples having marital difficulties are more likely to terminate their marriages while living together 24/7. And, by the same token, how many families are reliving the relationships enjoyed by their forebearers who were blessed with work-at-home parents who farmed the land and were homemakers and spent most of their time raising their families without the pressures of the modern rat race stress necessitated by the current way of life.
In terms of what businesses are raking in the big bucks, one need look no further than Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and other movie and television show streamers.
And while we are on the subject of family, we are delighted that parents can now spend quality time with their children and trying to establish real and enduring bonds with them that go way beyond just an occasional text or e-mail that is shared during a pre-Corona work/school week. Talking, taking walks, playing games, preparing meals together, and watching movies together are the kind of activities that we often find sorely lacking in our regular hum drum routine. These are times in which to make lifetime memories with our kids and to cherish these special familial moments together.
We hope and pray that we will soon emerge from the darkness of this pandemic, perhaps changed for the better to appreciate what G-d has given us. Let us, when that time comes, to slow down a bit and rethink our goals and how to achieve them. Til then, stay safe, well and give thanks for what we have.
