This week: Living Through Worrying Times Edited by: Kitti the Red-Nosed Feline  
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There is a lot to worry about at the moment. We mustn't let it change us.
This week's Drama Newsletter is all about the worries and fears of recent times, and doing the best we can to get through them.
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We live in strange times. Don’t we? I obviously haven’t lived in other times, so I cannot compare the what was or the what is to be with the what is, but I still feel that where and when we are right now is strange, and not altogether comfortable.
A lot of the people I know and love feel concerned, and for some that concern is steadily slipping into fear. My sister-in-law lives in the kind of place where there’s just a tiny shop and the nearest supermarket is a long way away. Yesterday, she made a trip to that supermarket and many of the shelves were empty. It’s the sort of situation that suddenly drives home all the stuff that we see on the news, or on social media. When it’s just on there I guess that whatever is talked about feels far removed from our daily reality. There’s a level of detachment that, perhaps, shouldn’t be there, but it is, and that’s probably necessary to help us get through our days because with the 24/7 news flow that we’re exposed to in the digital age it’s all too easy to feel like hiding under a duvet may well be our best option. Except, reality won’t go away when we do that. As evidenced by those empty shelves. There are worrying things happening, and they’re all around us, and we’ve got to find a healthy way to deal with them.
I don’t know what it’s like where you are, but around here people appear to be experiencing an urge to stock up on toilet paper. Which is not an item I thought I would ever write about in a newsletter, but that’s a part of the strange times that we’re in. I am not entirely certain why that particular item would be high on everyone’s list, other than it having its uses that we all know and appreciate. The virus that we’re dealing with doesn’t, as far as I know, cause one to require a higher-than-normal amount of it. It may be one of those self-fulfilling prophecies where people fear other people will go and stockpile it, leaving them short, so they go to the shop and stock up in it, just in case, and so on, and so forth, and that's how we're at where we're at now. Whatever the cause, if you happen to be planning on purchasing a large amount of it, or of anything else, really, I want you to know that I understand the urge, but I also hope that you won’t. It is good to feel stocked up and secure. I remember the store cupboard my great-aunt and great-uncle used to have - it always felt like an Aladdin’s cave filled with treasures to a younger me. My own is tiny in comparison and I doubt it’d last me much longer than a couple of weeks. Just, we need to keep in mind that there are people who do not have the financial resources to stock up enough items to even last a couple of weeks. Being faced with empty shelves, especially when they’re shelves that normally contain hygiene products or medication, can have a big negative impact on someone’s life. So, we’ve got to be sensible. If there are only five packs of something left on a shelf, and we would have only bought one pack before all of this, let’s just get the one. If the shelves are full, and we know we’re actually going to use that item and not merely getting it “just in case”, perhaps we can get two and store one away for future use. Not five, though. Definitely not ten. We need to look after our community as well as our family.
This being Writing.Com I reckon that I am preaching to the choir – we’re a global website welcoming of everyone – but I have read stories about Italian and East Asian people being treated badly and that saddens me. Restaurants and businesses run by people perceived to be from China or Italy are seeing a drop in business. It is not very logical, and no doubt hurtful to be on the receiving end of such treatment. The people who run my local Chinese restaurant were born in Britain and they have not been anywhere near China in years! Yet, they’re suddenly being treated as though they’re dangerous. We have to be sensible. And we have to avoid being driven to racist and/or xenophobic behaviour out of fear and panic.
I am worried, too. I have several older family members who, on top of their age, have underlying health conditions that significantly affect their chances of recovering from this virus, should they catch it. I have some underlying health conditions of my own. I am not taking this lightly. I’m just saying that we must not allow it to change us, nor drive us to behaviour that we would normally abhor.
The best way to go forward is to follow the advice given to us by the experts. Wash our hands properly. Cover our mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing – with a tissue or sleeve rather than our hands. Keep an eye out for any symptoms. Avoid close contact with those we know to be unwell.
It’s important to remember that this isn’t going to last forever. It’s definitely not a case of ‘this is our life now’. Though, the above advice is good regardless. It also helps prevent the spread of some other illnesses. I am not at all convinced about the use of the sleeve, which I think is gross, but that’s a good incentive to help me remember to stuff tissues in my pockets.
My other advice is that when the worry gets to you, move away from the news and from social media for a while. Do something else. Watch something else. Read something else. Anything important will still be there when you’ve recharged.
We live in strange and sometimes worrying times, but we’ll get through them, together.
Kitti the Red-Nosed Feline
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Drama: March 11, 2020 Issue [#10068]
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