After walking us through a series of COVID19 turning points over the course of the spring (out of work in the entertainment industry, MAGA protestors, college applications, Zoom school board meetings) in a rural/suburban area on the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties in Southern California TPM Reader AH comes to this turning point this week …
And the reason why is my other May turning point. My graduating senior checked his friend’s Instagram (also a graduating senior) to see what college he picked on decision day. Instead he discovered that this friend’s dad, a PhD teacher/professor in management and planning, has been hospitalized with COVID since mid April and is in a medically induced coma with organ failure.
The mom worked in the travel industry and had been laid off; the dad took one of the thousands of emergency Amazon jobs to help make ends meet and wound up with coronavirus. The doctors are doing the best they can. There’s a Go Fund Me to help pay medical bills. The last post on his LinkedIn was a month ago, advocating for hotel rooms for medical staff so that they wouldn’t have to expose their families to possible COVID germs.
And this is where the rubber meets the road. Because the virus is the virus, it’s not going anywhere, fall won’t be normal, and then it’s election time. Unless they try to cancel it.
