Like a River

One of my current writing projects is a screenplay. To me, movies are like rivers. They flow in one direction, and for the most part, a movie can be thought of as a visit to one stretch of a river. During that visit, you probably are not going to start at the source and you probably are not going to reach the finish, where the waters empty into the sea or a large inland lake.

While you are navigating this particular stretch of the river you'll notice eddies along the way. At these spots the river slows down, carves a rest stop, twirls around on itself slowly. Into the eddy, a fish might pause before resuming its trip to the sea.

While resting in the shallow water, that fish is vulnerable to predators that normally might not be a threat in the deeper waters. From overhead, birds are poised to dive and pierce the fish with their sharp beaks. Land-based mammals like bears and raccoons may approach the eddy, hoping to scoop up the fish as their next meal.

Snakes and turtles lie concealed nearby, fading into their environments ike stationary elements until they suddenly strike a deadly blow.

If the fish eludes all of these enemies, it can proceed back to deeper waters and rejoin the current sweeping to points south. Of course, there are bigger fish swimming in the deeper parts and they pose a threat to our main character as well.

In the end, there is no safe spot for our fish in the river.  And of course, some rivers never make it to an above ground destination at all, but just disappear into the earth below.

See what I mean? Movies are like rivers.

***

He didn't put it in the nicest of terms, but Veep Mike Pence said this weekend: “It’s a good time to steer clear of senior citizens and to practice the kind of measures that will keep our most vulnerable safe,” 

Steer clear? that's not exactly what I argued for yesterday, which was to get your loved ones out of nursing homes and into *your* home, where they may have a much better chance of surviving this pandemic.

Pence's phrase reminded me of the great fear I have about this crisis period -- that we will all begin isolating from each other even more than has become necessary. It's one of the key reasons I started writing these essays -- to battle against isolation, mine and yours.

We need the social contact we are missing. We need hugs. We need to be able to gather and celebrate holidays. We need to gather to mourn the loss of friends.

Now it has become clear the pandemic is nowhere close to being over, we need leadership and we need a strategy.

Pence is the top administration official on the coronavirus task force, which has been mostly MIA for too long now. At least he has started wearing a mask, and advocating that everyone do so.

He's having to compensate for his boss's lack of leadership based on Trump's denial that there is any problem to begin with.

As for Trump himself, he wouldn't be caught dead in a mask. Rather, he has politicized this whole disaster, as if wearing a mask means you are a Democrat! If it wasn't so tragic for his supporters, it would almost be funny. Every day, reports come in from all over of people citing Trump and refusing to wear masks.

Meanwhile, the best data indicate that you will not only protect others but also yourself from Covid-19 if you are masked in public.

Like their hero, Trump's supporters wouldn't be caught dead in a mask.

Therefore, unfortunately, there is a much higher chance they will be caught dead.

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