Category: Social Issues - trish hermanson

What Monet Taught Me about Coronavirus

3/25/2020

Denver is in lock-down now, and social distancing isn't helping to flatten my curve - I’ve gained three pounds because I’m eating more and exercising less. In my coop here, I’m trying not to be Chicken Little yelling, “The sky is falling.” Even though it is.
     When I stop flapping my wings long enough, I recall a painting by Impressionist artist Claude Monet I observed at an exhibit prior to this pestilence. Monet looked out his London hotel window toward a bridge shrouded by belching smokestacks. He was awestruck by the translucent beauty of smoggy fog reflected on the river.
     We’re living in the fog of facts and the smog of fear today. Yet there’s a translucent beauty. People caring about others. Forgiveness extended when we get testy - and we do. And good humor (“There’s a new strain of COVID-19 from touching old typewriters. It’s called Smith-Corona virus.”).
     A friend emailed some of us who are isolated. “Encouragement isn’t limited by space. We have our phones, computers, and prayers to be ‘social’ and connect.”
     That’s good advice when the bridges that carried us on daily routines are shrouded, even closed. We don’t have to let this plague beat us down. We can build each other up with purposeful acts of kindness - even from a distance.
  What can I do today to encourage someone?

Turning Our Insecurities into Groceries

3/21/2020

Grocers - among our new national heroes! But still no toilet paper at this Costco I visited in the morning when it first opened. People were tossing paper towels into their carts. Do they plan to saw it up and use it for TP?
     Who would have imagined that TP would become the new American collectible? Elsewhere in Denver, a cop broke up three women fighting over some precious rolls. But we’re all taking inventory because the average American uses 100 rolls per year.
     As I’m waiting in line to check out, I study what others stash in their carts as “essential” items. One man stocked up on beer, vodka, muffins, and cookies. He may not even remember this pestilence once it’s passed.
  I want to remember every lesson I learn from these uncertain times. Lessons about the importance of simple things like toilet paper, the fragility of life, the value of each other, and that in ways I don’t fully understand, God’s got this.

Stay Calm and Buy Toilet Paper (if you can)

3/15/2020

I checked at four stores for toilet paper and found nothing but empty shelves and folks with glazed eyes throwing anything they could into their carts to give them a sense of control during this coronavirus pandemic.
     One man was stocking up on water in case the plumbing to his home failed. Have we all gone cuckoo?
     Social distancing is good to flatten the curve of the spread of this pathogen, but we’ve got to flatten the curve of craziness, too. We need to stay calm. And even as we isolate, we must make sure our neighbors are okay, even if that means sharing some squares of our precious toilet paper.
     So if someone comes to mind, I’m asking myself whether this is a God-prompt to call, email, or text them. And if I feel lonely, someone else probably does, too. Who might I reach out to?
     Perhaps President Franklin Roosevelt’s admonition to Americans during the Great Depression is fitting: “…the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
  Coronavirus isn’t the only bug that can steal our health. Fear can, too.

What Would You Name the 7 Dwarfs Today?

2/6/2020

Walt Disney named his seven dwarfs after attitudes he observed around him. If he were naming dwarfs to reflect attitudes during this presidential election season, what might he choose?
     Here’s my list, and please notice I’m not pointing a finger at any particular candidate. Voices like these shout from all corners in our national conversation.
      * MESSIAH - “Trust me. I can fix anything.”
  * SENTIMENTALIZER - “Remember the good old days? You deserve better again.”
     * TRUTH TWISTER - “What I say is true. What others say is baloney.”
     * DEMONIZER - “That person is a (insert clever, disgusting nickname).”
     * FEAR-MONGER - “They aren’t like us. They threaten our way of life.”
     * PARTISAN - “Our party’s always right. No matter what it takes to reach our goals, it’s worth it.”
     * ISOLATIONIST - “Other countries matter only as they support our American agenda. Otherwise, don’t worry about their problems.”
     We used to call the use of these techniques propaganda. Now we’ve normalized it. But don’t be fooled. We pay a price for falling for such lines. We divide into “left wing” and "right wing,” forgetting that our American eagle is meant to be one bird, indivisible, not carved up like a turkey where nothing remains but the carcass.
     I want to resist believing and repeating these messages lest I become like one of the original dwarfs - DOPEY.
     ***    Artwork from Clipart Panda with text added.

Unhappy Anniversary to Us

1/21/2019

Unhappy anniversary to us. This year marks four centuries since the first African Americans arrived (unwillingly) on our shores. We acted no more neighborly toward Native Americans, corralling tribes so we could take their land. Then in World War II, we incarcerated Japanese Americans but didn’t intern German Americans. Why? Maybe because “they” didn’t look like “us” who are lily white?
     The recent wave of immigrants challenges us again. In the past we welcomed needy Europeans, who became the grandparents and great-grandparents of the majority of us. Yet now we don’t embrace needy Latin Americans, sometimes calling them crooks and social sponges, even though statistics reveal that in general, immigrants have been more law-abiding than native-born citizens and have actually boosted our economy.
     Perhaps it’s time to heed the wisdom of Martin Luther King Jr.; Instead of building a wall to hold back a flood of humanity, we could “build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” Maybe then we’d understand more clearly how to make good immigration decisions.
     We’re embarrassed about how our ancestors treated various people throughout our country’s history, and I wonder whether our descendants will be shocked about how we treated Twenty-first Century Latin Americans. Will they have reason to call us racist because of what we did - or did not - do?
***
Photo from the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.