Side note on earworms...that's the actual term for a song that gets stuck in your head and you sing it over an over again until sweet relief finally takes over. And sorry for what I'm about to do to you...Dancing Queen by Abba.
So welcome to the Dancing Queen version of my mind.
I'm fascinated by the public's response to products as they relate to disease. While reports of Corona Beer's steep sales decline has been very misrepresented, it is true that sales have suffered amidst the crisis. This is partly true due to restaurant and bar closings, but one study showed it's directly correlated to the stigma attached to the name. A related example is the difficulty in finding Chinese food restaurants open right now. While restaurants are struggling to survive, most have transitioned to take out only. The exception appears to be Chinese food restaurants where the vast majority, at least in our area, are temporarily closed. I can only assume this is also tied to the stigma of the virus or maybe just rampant and idiotic racism. The best example in my lifetime was the diet pill named Ayds. If you aren't familiar with the product, it was a candy style dietary supplement in the 1970's and early 1980's. Sales were very strong until the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (that's right, AIDS) was discovered in 1981. By the mid-1980's the phonetic similarity of the names was impacting sales of the supplement to the tune of roughly 50%. The company tried to change the name, but ultimately was taken off the market. If you want to know why they had such an issue, I recommend you watch this commercial for the pill and take into context the similarity to the symptoms of the AIDS disease.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTitP5_yDUU
At what point in the COVID pandemic did the lockdown policies become the new battleground of liberals vs. conservatives? I completely understand the line in the sand between those who want to re-open and those who believe public safety is of greater concern. However, I would have thought the re-open crowd would be business owners and young people, while the public safety crowd would be those whose economic risk was low and the at-risk/elderly. However, it appears somewhere along the way this became Red vs. Blue. Republican vs. Democrat. Conservative vs. Liberal. Reds believing personal freedoms are gradually being eroded in an attempt to drive us to the socialist state they believe all Blue's are trying to create. Blues believing personal freedoms are a small price to pay for public safety and Reds care more about their bank accounts dying than their fellow citizens. Republicans screaming the Dems must hate small business owners and want the economy to crash in another effort to remove Trump. Democrats screaming the Republicans must hate the at-risk and elderly and value money over the health of our citizens. Conservatives debating whey liquor, marijuana, and abortions are deemed essential services while Church is not. Liberals asking Conservatives why they value vulnerability and life as it relates to abortions, but not as it relates to those at risk of dying from COVID. So what changed? Early on it appeared opinions on both sides of the debate were a diverse cross-section of our social/economic/age/race/religious points of views. Then suddenly it devolved yet again into a political debate. People who argued for a lockdown now saying we should re-open. Those who said this was all ridiculous and over-reaction, now chastising rallies to re-open states. And I don't think this is about having more facts to have a more informed opinion. I believe the gravity of our political views has once again drawn us into our separate corners.
Most of us are spending more time with our spouses and significant others than we ever have in our lives. At no point in my 24 years with my wife have we ever spent this much continuous time together. Normally we'd have work or travel or personal engagements to give brief breaks apart. But with the lockdowns, we've had no more than an hour apart from each other since March 5th. I suspect many families are the same and I'm curious to see what this does to relationship statistics moving forward. Will these measures bring families closer together, reminding couples why they got together in the first place or will the constant connection drive couples apart? Will we see a COVID baby boom in 9 months or an increase in divorce rates? Will domestic abuse rates go up or down? I have to believe infidelity is currently at an all-time low, but what happens when people are allowed to socialize again? As for me, I've really enjoyed spending more time at home and also really happy my wife doesn't own a gun.
I miss sports, but I'm thrilled there's no Yankees vs. Red Sox. I didn't think it was possible for social media to get more annoying and contentious, but we also need it now more than ever to stay connected. I always look forward to each day, but also spend each day trying to erase 1 hour blocks of time to get closer to when I can go to bed. I talk about COVID and flattening the curve daily and also look forward to the day when I never utter either again. Long stationary lines outside of stores in order to prevent too many people inside does not seem to make sense. I've lost the concept of time while simultaneously feeling like time is standing still. We are living the movie Groundhog day, except in this version of the movie Phil Connors reports on Groundhog day from his house while recovering from COVID, Rita Hanson gets furloughed in favor of non-union producers, Larry the Cameraman dies of COVID (because well, it's Chris Elliot so of course he does), Ned Ryerson is price gauging N95 masks and Hand Sanitizer, Punxsutawney Phil get's a citation for going outside, and the song I Got You Babe is played so many times that it replaces Dancing Queen as your current earworm. At least I got Abba out of our head.
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