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Order this writing that appears in the one-of-a-kind anthology Instant Karma the Down in the Dirt September-December 2023 issues collection book		get the 422 page September-December 2023 Down in the Dirt 6" x 9" ISBN# perfect-bound paperback book:

The First and Last Days of the Pandemic

Dennis Piszkiewicz

    March 30, 2020. A time of uncertainty and fear.
    I had to get out of the house before I went stir crazy from watching TV reporters counting Covid-19 casualties. I got tired of hearing doctors, governors, and a president telling me to shelter in place, avoid close contact with others, or risk taking a trip to a hospital. I went for walks while it was still allowed. Should I have worn a mask? And where could I have found one?
    My hometown, Laguna Beach, California, was shut down. There was noticeably less traffic on main streets. Restaurants were closed. Parks and public beaches were surrounded by chain link fences. Visiting crowds were gone, but you could still see scattered people walking the streets. I watched them and began wondering if they were following the rules of avoiding large gatherings and practicing social distancing.
    Here are samples of what I saw in my non-scientific survey: The large gatherings were gone, but there were smaller groups. I saw a group of three children, two adults, and one golden retriever. They were in tight formation, not spaced six feet apart. Was this a family, all part of the same household? Probably. I hoped they all washed their hands when they got back home and did it often.
    Four young guys ran in a line on a neighborhood street. They kept a distance of at least six feet between them. My best guess was that they were members of the High School cross country team staying in shape.
    There were pairs of people, adults, often of similar ages. More often than not, they walked side by side. Sometimes they held hands. Did they live together? Maybe or maybe not. When my wife and I took walks together, we tried to keep our distance as good examples, but often we forget.
    Pairs of children were usually not concerned about keeping their distance. Were they siblings or friends? That’s anybody’s guess. Were they taking a risk? I’ll leave that for their parents to decide and deal with.
    Many pedestrians were accompanied only by their dogs. Others walked alone. I was occasionally one of them. When we passed on sidewalks, we usually passed quickly on opposite sides. Occasionally we smiled awkwardly, or someone said, “How you doing?” without waiting for an answer.
    I walked to an overlook to see the ocean where a lone surfer drifted offshore, waiting for a wave. There was a lone man sitting on the sidewalk near one of the now closed stairways to the beach talking to someone. He might have been talking into a cellphone. I kept my distance and ignored him, until I realized that he was not holding a cellphone. He had with him a backpack, or something like it, for his belongings. I thought he was one of our local homeless people. Not knowing what to do, I kept my distance and did nothing. Later I felt guilty about it.
    As I was leaving the scene, a police officer was arriving in his patrol SUV. I hoped he could help the man-who-was-talking-to-no-one find somewhere to shelter in place.

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    Eventually we had vaccines and booster shots. Hospitals were no longer overwhelmed. Social distancing was forgotten, and masks were worn only on special occasions. In May 2023, three years after the pandemic began, President Biden declared the end of the Covid-19 emergency. Covid-19 was under control, although not eradicated.
    Unfortunately, other problems are still not under control. Case in point: the man-who-was-talking-to-no-one. Homelessness and mental illness are still with us.

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