Thursday, March 26, 2020

The Boogey Man Virus



Being on a dedicated account, I oftentimes go to repeat customers. Some of them I go to enough that they know me by name. Everybody has new procedures and protocols in place now to accommodate this whole "social distancing" experiment.


One of my customers had a sign up telling us to un-tarp and un-strap after driving into the building, and then lay our paperwork on the bed of the trailer. They would then unload it, sign the bills, and leave it on the trailer. It said, "Do not get out of your cab until the fork lift driver signals you with three short beeps on his horn." Then we were allowed to get out and grab our paperwork!


At the Hydro plant in Cressona, PA I headed for the guard shack just like I've done for the past five and a half years, and I find the door is locked. The guard comes to the glass door and shouts through the glass for me to stand back eight feet and he will bring my bills out and set them on the table just outside the door. Then I have to wait until I hear him lock the door back before I can advance to the table and sign my bills! He then waits for me to leave before gathering them up.


I'm about sick of this "Boogey Man" altering our everyday behavior. Before the guard closed the door behind him, as he returned to his protective lair, he looked back at me saying, "Geesh Dale, whoever thought it would get to this? I feel like I'm playing a part in a science fiction movie." He is right - that's kind of how it feels. I feel like I'm re-living an episode of "The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers."


I seriously question this whole approach to battling a virus. It seems most healthy people can deal with it successfully. If more of us could be exposed, then more of us would develop anti-bodies. That seems to me the fastest way to eliminate the threat. Why can't we concentrate on protecting our senior citizens and other highly vulnerable people while the vast numbers of healthy people develop a natural resistance to this? Avoiding a virus doesn't eliminate it. Developing an active defense mechanism kills it.


What do I know about fighting the "Boogey Man?" Nothing! I'm just a dumb truck driver who still has some modicum of common sense.


Once we have a significant part of our population with effective anti-bodies we could harvest their blood plasma and give it to the vulnerable folks. OMG, that's just too simple isn't it!


I'm not scared of the "Boogey Man," but these nut jobs in D.C. are literally frightening.

2 comments:

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  2. Interesting thoughts! My wife and I are on a self-imposed quarantine here in Upstate NY. Our Governor put out a request for any recently retired nurses to go back to work. I'm thinking about it.
    Keep healthy and happy Dale.

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