Waiting for the grocery truck

Subject: Waiting for the grocery truck.

It's an interesting comparison this Covid 19 pandemic has with the Spanish Flue pandemic of 1919 1921 and the underlaying effect it had a century ago on society at large. 

Coming out of the bloodbath which was the 1st World War nations, right across the world were plunged into an even greater loss of life inflicted by the Spanish Flue. In the case of the flue it took the lives of the younger end of society leaving many children scarred by the loss of their parents at such a vulnerable age. In this Covid 19 attack we have thankfully not been shaken by a terrible war which threatened, not only ones life but ones sense of who you were and what you stood for. On the whole we in the 21st century have experienced a much more benign life and whilst it is true the media today amplify the effects of the virus in a way that people in 1919 could not envisage we are blessed with the confidence that the medical profession will find a way to beat it.  It's also a blessing, in some ways that it's seems to be the older generation with pre medical weakness's who bear the brunt of the disease.  Having grown old they have less to contribute and therefore have less an effect on society at large when they die.

Of course the flue epidemic of 1919 killed people who today, because of medical advances would live but even today flue kills more people than we acknowledge simple because Flue has become commonplace and with inoculations the vulnerable are to some extent protected. Never the less, on average 400.000 people die of flu each year.

In the current pandemic the death toll, world wide is currently 200.000, but the majority of those deaths have arisen in just over a month and the toll is still rising. Clearly Covid 19 is much more deadly than flue, especially so since the signs of having it and being able to respond and isolate oneself from others is far more critical and whilst like flu, most health people only experience relatively mild symptoms, the virus is here to stay and will change our lives for decades until a cure is found.

Self isolating for the elderly may become the norm along with the caution younger family members have to show when visiting old relatives. Maybe the age of taking the old buggers out for a meal is over, retirees splurging their pensions on a lunch in the restaurant is gone for ever. Perhaps grandchildren will only recognise their grandparents through a sanitised video link and those special connections between the very old and the very young will be lost. Perhaps the retired will no longer flock to the cruse ships or embark on journeys around the world, enjoying for the first time that freedom from the toil of work.

A world without the perspective of the old, a world without the sagacity of chatting with a glass of wine in hand in the boulevard cafe to a person who has done this and seen that, perhaps 60 years ago when things were different will be a weaker world.

Of course the pension fund industry will be pleased as the actuaries no longer have to blind guess how long the annuity has to keep paying the monthly cheque. The health clinics can get around to dealing with the more mundane ailments which afflict the living and stop adding useless years to tired worn out people.

The streets will soon fill again and only behind the widows curtained facade lurk that vulnerable  group, waiting for the monthly grocery truck !