Toughness

The Grump is a watcher, an observer, and this year has been really screwed up.  Watching people and how they react to adversity has been… interesting… to say the least.  Literally every month so far there’s been some event or incident to test people, but we’re going to focus only on two examples.

The Events and Resulting Issues

Coronavirus / Covid-19:  There are several measures to fight the spread the virus such as “social distancing”, quarantining, mask wearing, and so on.  Mask wearing, in particular, seems to have triggered the most extreme reactions.  Most people are complying pretty well.  Most people understand mask wearing helps slow the spread.  Most people understand others may not be as physically resistant as they are and are willing to help keep them as safe as possible.

Then there’s people who don’t seem to care about others at all.  Then there’s people who have turned it into a political issue… who claim the Constitution yet clearly have no clue what the Constitution actually says.

Then we had the derecho earlier this month:  The devastation has been incredible.  Hundreds of thousands of people were without power for varying times.  Some were up right away.  As of 14 days afterward 99% of people had been restored.  We were without power for six days, for example.  Which leads us to…

The Observations and Those Issues

With covid and masks those refusing to wear masks whined and complained and made up excuses as to why they shouldn’t have to, others be damned.  It’s hot.  My glasses fog up.  I have breathing issues (which I personally suspect 90% of people making this claim are flat-out lying).

With the deracho most people have been pretty stoic, riding it out, adapting as necessary, figuring out workarounds to normal life, etc.  But I also kept reading on Facebook things like… I don’t have AC… it’s hot (it was warm, it wasn’t hot)… after two days some people started complaining how long it was taking to get power re-established, and so on.

The Question and Conclusion

Have we lost all sense of toughness?  Can we really not hang for a week or so without power when extreme circumstances call for it?  This does not bode well for our society, IMO.

Now, some are reading this and thinking, “Sure, Grump, but what about the elderly and the ill and others not as well off as you?”

Of course those people exist and are less equipped to handle adversities like this.  I’m not talking about those people.  And there are people who suffered greater losses than I did with the derecho, like the complete destruction of their homes.  I’m not talking about them, either.  Who I’m talking about is otherwise healthy and normal people who have had their lives interrupted and inconvenienced for sure, but in the grand scheme of things are not that bad off.

And for masks, you seriously can’t hang with wearing a mask for an hour or less?  Seriously?  You’re that weak?  Employees wear them for their entire shifts.  Suck it up, you only need to wear one in limited situations.

Be a little tougher.