Today I went to the supermarket.
I wore an N-95 face mask, eye protection and latex gloves. I wanted a carton of whole milk, but had to settle for two-percent. I wanted more paper towels, but there wasn’t a single roll to be had. That’s ok, I won’t run out for another month, so no need to panic. Yet. I found everything else on my list, and then waited on line keeping six feet of space between myself and the next person. When I got home, I wiped down every item I had purchased with alcohol before putting it away. Then I showered and changed clothes.
A month ago, I would have said that a person who behaved this way should get psychiatric help. Today I am that person, but no one in the supermarket would have called me crazy, Most of them also wore various forms of protection and kept their distance. It’s the new normal, and therefore, perfectly acceptable behavior.
I live in one of the five boroughs of New York City. On the first of March, there was only one person known to have the vicious flu virus, COVID-19. She was not sick enough to be hospitalized and was sent home to recover. As of today, the first of April, according to the New York City Department of Health, there are 45,707 known cases; 9,775 have been hospitalized; 1,374 have died.
At the end of my last post, I promised that I would write next about repetition, control systems and political parties. We were at the beginning of the primary elections in which Democrats would decide who was the best candidate to represent their party in the November presidential election. That seemed like as good a subject as any to start figuring out who or what was in control when it came to the political process.
Most Americans are no longer focused on the elections. The primaries have been suspended. We are focused on the daily statistics that reveal the rising death toll caused by a virus known as COVID-19. Americans are counting. Human beings all over the planet are counting. Counting is repetition: 1+1+1….
Repetition signals Control.
Who or what is in control during the COVID-19 Pandemic? Let’s find out together.
Control Savvy 
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