Dr. Anthony Fauci seems like a nice man. The other nice experts who have pronounced inconsistently from January to date have somehow become our society's gods. They speak the word, well, many words, and our local and federal governments impose a series of proscriptions and prohibitions on the citizenry. Our input is not welcome. Actually, our input is irrelevant. Objection is not welcome either. Actually, objection is roundly rebuffed. Shut up. Wear your mask. Stay at home until we figure out whether it is forever or not. And until no one dies ever again from the virus.
It is what it is. Being herded by other human beings is nothing new. But there is a silver lining.
From CNBC.com (and other news outlets) we have this on April 9, 2020.
"Dr. Fauci says handshaking needs to stop even when pandemic ends--other experts agree".
Wait. There is more.
"Speaking on the Wall Street Journal podcast on Tuesday, Fauci said Americans will have to 'gradually come back' from this pandemic and won't be able to jump back into their regular lives' with both feet. The 'new normal' he says, will include 'compulsive had-washing and the other is the end of handshaking.'"
I hope Dr. Fauci and the other experts will remind people not to spit on the streets, throw their trash out of car windows, and in the case of our homeless, who are still on the streets while the rest of us are confined, defecating. But I digress.
The good news. Those of us who used to be considered, let's say, "odd" for shying away from human touch at greater or lesser degrees, we turn out to have been right all along. The experts have confirmed it.
I don't know that I would be considered phobic about touch, but I was raised in a nuclear family that did not hug, or kiss. Over the years, people were amused at my reluctance. As I have gotten older, I may not have extended my hand or initiate a hug, but if presented with the inevitability, I conceded to the couple of seconds of greeting. At Mass, where we were all compelled by progressive faith to exchange handshakes at the Sign of Peace, I did my part, always happy when some priests simply waved or bowed. Too many handshakes, far and wide, I have found were wet. Let me say it. It always creeped me out.
Thanks to Dr. Fauci and the other experts who are leading us, the compulsive hand washer, or the avoidant hand shaker, have been proven right. What was mental aberration yesterday is wisdom today. We are free, even compelled, not to touch. That is a freedom I am happy to give up. The rest of our freedoms, not so much. But that is a rant for another day.
I noted that recently, the mantra of these Coronavirus times, which had been "social distancing" has morphed into "physical distancing". I suppose someone in the Orwellian word smithing business realized that they didn't want socializing to end, only the touching part of socializing in the public square. To be social doesn't require, someone must have realized, physical proximity. It can all be done on line. We can have our religions, our family gatherings, on line and on our big screens. And this way, we can be assured that the experts and our leaders, like Mr. DeBlasio in New York, or Mr. Garcetti in Los Angeles will have access to our homes and minds. It's all very Farenheit 451. Nice.
Thank you Mr. Fauci. Your advice coincides here with my natural tendency. I shall, henceforth, bow, and smile to those I greet. I might even observe the six feet physical distancing "rule" for the rest of my life.
To be a phobic (wherever you are on the bell curve) will be to be politically correct. Until someone is offended, then the debate will begin anew.
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