Can we find any silver lining in this health crisis? This is an extraordinary time we are experiencing, given the challenging impacts to our daily lives as a result of the worldwide spread of the coronavirus. Life has literally been turned upside down. It is difficult to remember a time when a health situation like this has created such enormous shockwaves through our society. Reaction saw uncontrolled panic buying at stores, the fear that resonated when told to shelter at home, so many unknowns, let alone the knowledge of no vaccine! No doubt this is a serious situation which means we are at the beginning of some life changes, vigilance and common sense thinking.
A recent notice distributed among us said: “I guess God got so mad about all of our fighting down here that he sent us all to our rooms.” Perhaps this “time out” at home will help us reflect about how people have been treated when there is a difference of opinion and how we need to slow down and smell the roses. We need more open mindedness and acceptance of a variety of opinions and not the hateful bantering being exchanged. Living through national crises like this should transcend political rhetoric and bring us together as one unit working toward the same goal. We have seen a united American spirit throughout our history. The panic and fear created a cloud of anxiety and, like in every cloud, can we find a silver lining?
One observable silver lining is the volume of traffic on the highways having come to a grinding halt. Roads are void of vehicle congestion and pollution is down. Many company employees are successfully working from home thanks to the available technology. Zoom conferencing or teleconferencing has become more popular so that some work can continue.
To minimize traffic congestion in the future, businesses might consider restructuring employee schedules to allow for them to work from home two or three days per week. We are finding ways to be productive from home. “Necessity is the Mother of Invention” is at work here. A side benefit from working at home would reduce traffic and pollution instead of just raising taxes for projects that we’re told will help but these problems never seem to improve. Of course, any change from what we’ve been accustomed requires some sacrifice and planning.
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This health crisis should also be a sober awakening for local and state officials to rethink high density living in light of social distancing. We continue to evolve into a global society and close living conditions can be a Petri dish for fostering person-to-person transmitted health issues. The Bay Area skyline has changed dramatically without consideration for unknown situations like a health crisis let alone the infrastructure to handle the additional building. We do need some amount of additional housing but unless or until there is a way to build structures in a way that prevents or minimizes the spread of viral infections, housing projects need to be re-evaluated. We have seen through this virus what close living conditions can do throughout our country and around the world.
But the most important silver lining has been the opportunity to spend more time with family instead of the daily travel rush to activities and sports. It has been a time to share in the experience of doing jigsaw puzzles and other things together as well as cleaning closets and reorganizing our homes. It is increasing our productivity at home now that we have the time to fix the things needing fixing that were put off because of lack of priority. It has also been a time to realize the importance of friends. Thoughtful talking and texting one another have been fun and appreciated but it’s times like this you realize the importance of friends.
Have you ever thought that if time could stand still for a day, what would we see? We would be able to look around and see the real important things in life that we have been missing or just didn’t take time to do. It’s easy to say, “I’ll do that tomorrow” but as we all have seen, tomorrow brings its own priority realignment and is promised to no one. So make the most of this time and really evaluate life’s priorities and how our families are prepared for any life-changing situation.
This won’t be the last time we will be faced with a challenge whether personal or worldwide. How are we preparing ourselves and our loved ones for the next time an invisible viral monster blankets the Earth?
Linda Koelling is the former mayor of Foster City.
Apr 9, 2020 - Linda Koelling - "We do need some amount of additional housing but unless or until there is a way to build structures in a way that prevents or minimizes the spread of viral infections, housing projects need to be re-evaluated."
December 21, 2020 - Bloomberg - Bloomberg is reporting that "Covid Is Killing in Rural U.S. Faster Than in Big Cities" https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-21/covid-killing-in-rural-u-s-faster-than-in-big-cities?sref=UTbvKgk5
Sometimes it is good to look at and if needed wait for the data before making big politically motivated policy statements. The agglomeration effects of public health especially urban agglomeration effects are real. Frankly I love where I live, a suburban town where I probably have some of the highest percentage of Dr's & PhD's anywhere in the country. If I'm going to get sick, I want to get sick in an urban core not in Tahoe or some other remote work from home location where you risk not having access to the best and brightest who are drawn to our region by density. It will be interesting to see how the data proves out over the next two years. However, so far, it appears the hypothesis as stated in "A silver lining" does not stand up to the scrutiny of time.
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Apr 9, 2020 - Linda Koelling - "We do need some amount of additional housing but unless or until there is a way to build structures in a way that prevents or minimizes the spread of viral infections, housing projects need to be re-evaluated."
December 21, 2020 - Bloomberg - Bloomberg is reporting that "Covid Is Killing in Rural U.S. Faster Than in Big Cities" https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-21/covid-killing-in-rural-u-s-faster-than-in-big-cities?sref=UTbvKgk5
Sometimes it is good to look at and if needed wait for the data before making big politically motivated policy statements. The agglomeration effects of public health especially urban agglomeration effects are real. Frankly I love where I live, a suburban town where I probably have some of the highest percentage of Dr's & PhD's anywhere in the country. If I'm going to get sick, I want to get sick in an urban core not in Tahoe or some other remote work from home location where you risk not having access to the best and brightest who are drawn to our region by density. It will be interesting to see how the data proves out over the next two years. However, so far, it appears the hypothesis as stated in "A silver lining" does not stand up to the scrutiny of time.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.