THE COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we live at present, with many of us confined to working from home and isolating wherever possible, especially here in Melbourne, Australia where we are panicking about just over 200 new cases today.
This is a situation which many countries would be wishing for as their numbers head to the thousands as in the USA where there were just under 50,000 new cases recently.
We are basically isolated, working from home, schooling from home, and watching too much TV at home although some people have returned to reading books and weeding the garden.
The choice of TV shows has suddenly been reduced as the “Masked Singer” show has had to shut down due to some of the crew catching the virus. It appears that wearing very large, rather ornate masks probably isn’t enough to stop infections.
The cast of second-rate or lower celebrities and singers have now gone home to isolate, and the general public will have to wait till it’s all clear to see who the next basically has-been or never-was tries to sing. This shut down has been one of the few positives we have seen recently.
This is a time of discomfort for most and for some life changing health issues with too many dying. We need to work together, separately, and wear our masks to get out of this.
***
An SOS
A local newspaper has an article about a major issue of concern to Sportspeople and their partners.
The partners are tired of being labeled as WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends) as they consider it demeaning and want to be labeled as SOs (Significant Others).
To many, this seems a rather silly request given the real-world problems of COVID and numerous conflicts and natural disasters. The two terms could be combined to SWAGs, although that might not be flattering as in Australia that refers to a form of bedding.
There should be some recognition of other labeling options with the LGBTQI communities although none of the top-level male players have admitted to being a member of these communities.
A number of the players in the women’s competitions are more honest. The only acronym that I could find that uses most of the letters is GASLIT and that seems appropriate as many of them may be gaslit by the media after their SOs career is over.
What a lot of football WAGS or SOs forget is that there are literally about three billion other SOs out there in the world and not many of them have sponsorships or companies wanting to give them cars and expensive clothes.
As many of them do have a public voice and a social media presence, at least for a few years, they could make a better use of their voices and help with many social issues.
It’s time for a bit of SOS – Save our Sanity.
***
Keep fighting to stop the fighting
A headline on the CNN website states, “Biden and Trump to duel over race and violence” and the worry is that this is not fake news.
Any definition of duel mentions opposing sides, and yes, they are from opposing political parties, but there should be no difference in belief. The definitions usually mention weapons which we do not want to see, and honor which we do want to see.
Racism is wrong. Violence is wrong. These two statements are so simple that they really are just facts without contradiction. We are going to see two old men argue about topics that they have not, fortunately, suffered and may not really understand. One of them is going to be the President and hopefully the chosen one will work to stop racism and violence. Let’s unite in battle to stop the racism and violence for once and all. If the president does that, then their name will last longer than the Mt. Rushmore faces. (dfitzger@melbpc.org.au/PN)
