So, a few months back, when I was planning the line up of films that would be covered, I was having a hard time putting things together. For March I was planning initially on theming it the somewhat on the nose “March Madness” – and I would focus on films built around mental health- specifically with characters going crazy or questioning their sanity, however I didn’t’ want to offend anybody or have people interpret it as making fun of anybody who is dealing with mental illness. So, what did I do? I thought, “horror movies- I love John Carpenter, I could do a whole month of his films and focus on the wonderfully crafted (but bleak) “Apocalypse Trilogy”. Fictional. End of the world, death and destruction, but fictional. In hindsight, I have some guilt over possibly being a downer during these stressful days.
Truthfully, there has been a lot of weirdness brought on by this global pandemic and to be perfectly honest for as many dystopic futures/zombie films that I consume on the regular, I never truly thought I would get to live one. I’m positive that history will correctly judge this as a blatant failure of the current administration, as well as the Conservative powers that be for not treating this situation with the urgency and seriousness that it deserved. But much like the punitive death of Tommy in Goodfellas, I feel it will be for that “and a lot of other things.” The strange part is watching how people have been reacting to all this mess, and I include myself.
I will fully admit, I have gone to the store far more than I should probably have in the days leading up to the full quarantine – but in the back of my reptilian brain, I kept thinking “things are going to get worse, I need to make sure we have ‘x’ or I don’t want to run out of ‘y’ when we are eventually all stuck at home. This was going to be the time for our pantry of canned goods to really shine, but essentials would be needed to maintain a semblance of order- and so I went out making sure we had a steady supply of dog food, eggs, milk, meat, bread, wine, vodka…you know “the essentials” for survival. But…all of this was a week and a half ago, when people were still going into work, before the schools completely closed, and when social distancing was treated as “that would be a nice thing to try to do if you could.” But even in my excursions out to various stores, I am happy to report I was not behaving as people I observed.
I watched a man perform a close line move as he went down a cleaning supply aisle at our local grocer, which was already decimated, and knock about 8 of the remaining Lysol spray cannisters into his cart- more than anybody would need at any single given time. I’m not quite sure what he did at the end of the aisle; perhaps a forearm shiver was used to knock down the detergent display- but I can tell you I heard him complain from the next aisle over that “people were being greedy buying up all of the furnace filters” (when I caught him in the frozen foods section he seemed to have 2…which I believe counts as a 6 month supply). Arguments in the soup aisles, disagreements over produce, condiment conflagrations.
“How can you take the last three bags of potatoes?!”
“I don’t want to buy organic “x” – can’t you check in the back for the “regular” kind?”
“Where is the manager, I want to complain about that woman taking the last 5 bottles of ranch dressing”
Again, I can’t claim that I didn’t stock up on things in the weeks leading up to our current quarantine/shelter-in-place/work from home scenario- but I’m at least happy to say I wasn’t one of the churlish folks taking everything I could get my hands on out of blind panic. I must say- taking stock of what cleaning supplies, toiletries and foodstuff’s in the house was both an empowering feeling, while simultaneously making me hyper aware of what the limits would be for my family to be stuck inside for weeks on end. Taking inventory of my freezer with a clipboard and a pencil was like something out of a tale of survival or again, one of the dystopic films I so enjoy. I understand why people are feeling out of sorts. During these times wild thoughts race through one’s head: even if we have food, do we have enough gas? What if there is looting? Do we need weapons for self-defense? Did my parents take the necessary precautions? How are my siblings? Why the hell did I buy this can of potted meat? Wait, what the hell is potted meat?
But it’s just a time to take a step back and collectively breath. The world is not coming to an end- it’s just people need to take a moment and realize the best thing they can do is nothing. Stay home, stay healthy and try to carry on, responsibly. I have been working from home for a week now- I attended my first Zoom™ all staff meeting in the getup you see here- an unlit cigar in hand and a wine glass full of ice and cranberry juice. It accomplished what it was intended to do- it elicited some pent-up laughs and smiles from both coworkers and honestly, myself. I’ll be happy to let you know that you know, that I did have on “regular” work appropriate clothes and the gag was fleeting- I am indeed able to maintain the façade of professionalism when the situation calls for it.
I’m not going to pretend to even have a clue as to what’s coming for the future folks but having a bit of a sense of humor about it all and remaining calm is surely going to make it a hell of a lot easier. Stay indoors, watch some films, perhaps catch up on some back episodes of a certain podcast…but above all please, try and help flatten the curve of this disease by social distancing. Be well, stay healthy, and try not to let the bastards get you down.
~Management