Stories of Bad from Coronavirus Are Everywhere
The airline industry is hurting big time–United Airlines said their passenger travel in March (only half through) is already down 1,000,000 passengers from last March, traditionally one of the busiest travel times of the year.
It made the news that a couple of goofballs tried to corner the market on hand sanitizer, buying thousands of bottles with a plan to sell them for $70 each and make a huge profit. They got busted, of course, and instead of going to jail donated the bottles to places that needed them.
I hang out occasionally at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, AZ. They are the host of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s golf tournaments this year. Both have been cancelled, and the economic impact on them is tough. They will make that back, but the college seniors who didn’t get to play in that championship will not get that back.
Around the country there are tens of thousands of school children missing meals every day because their schools are shut down.
Then of course there is the ultimate bad news: people have died from this illness, and more people will die.
Good Comes Out of Bad
I’m not saying that happens every time, but it is definitely happening this time.
Our next door neighbors checked on us and asked if we needed anything. We love our neighbors and talk to them often, but this was something special prompted by the pandemic.
The President of the United States issued a proclamation calling for a National Day of Prayer.
I saw people being polite to each other in an over-crowded grocery store, and on under-crowded roads around Phoenix.
This One Is Really Good
On Twitter my friend Ted Scott retweeted the following message from @mrotzie:
“Friends canceled their son’s Bar Mitzvah this weekend but decided to keep the contract with their caterer, a tiny Hmong-owned business. They delivered the food to friends in quarantine & sent pans home with others. Grateful for stories like this and for community in a bleak time.”
As I’m writing this, that post had more than 896,000 likes, more than 92,000 retweets, and well over a thousand comments.
People are looking for good, and people are doing good.
Keep it up, people! Be inspired, care for others, fight the coronavirus with great hand washing and even greater good.
