YOU may not have heard of it before, but the sign actually exists, not only on reader’s digest. Obviously meant as a warning sign to pedestrians and passengers, it had greeted everyone daily on the approach to the city’s train station in Perth, Western Australia, and it had read something like:
“The light at the end of the tunnel might actually be the light of an approaching train.”
This metaphorical aspect of Aussie wit leaves an imprint somewhat, and I am once again reminded of it, because these days, a lot of people are “desperately wanting and ready to believe anything”.
We are, after what we’ve been through (and it’s not even over yet), frayed at the nerves, with no clear sign that the worst is over. Worst thing is, at this seemingly endless time of uncertainty, there just appears to be no solid rock to lean on. The proliferation of fake news and information online, for example, mix with actual bulletins, so much that one still has to check the veracity of each in order to gain even the sense of a bearing. This proves to be taxing enough because of other priorities brought about by the quarantine. Policies founded on twitter hashtags, and not science, regularly flood the internet, and no amount of reviewing and changing one’s preferences could stop them from once again invading your page.
Since the outbreak of covid-19, I must have already come across about a dozen or more conspiracy theories regarding the pandemic, these coming from local to national, then from there to global sources. In terms of its origin, quite a number of these theories, plus a sprinkle here and there of barbershop hypotheses find their roots in any region’s political, religious, cultural, and recently, even paranormal and extraterrestrial beliefs and settings.
Now, try to imagine all of these hurtling all over the world faster than the virus itself, and all the while, a simple set of precautions is purposely ignored, even if, as has been proven in the 1918 version, it works so that as one race, we can survive even the moment.
The level of restlessness is understandable but everyone has just got to have a clear head. At least, try to consider the opposite. While it has been said that patience is a virtue, in cases like this pandemic, it can save a life. Yours and your loved ones included.
To end, what to do, what to do is again the question. We might try the minotaur test whereby one has a choice of three doors, with a prized bride in one, the man-bull that’ll eat him in another and freedom on third. However,come to think of it, that is just the same as choosing according to your cultural, religious and political beliefs. A lot of us had been doing that for more than six months already. This simply cannot go on forever.
Sooner or later, with all options taken, we will have finally arrived at one solution in fighting covid. Will it be too late by then, who knows. Trial and error, despite an already-proven tool, are only symptoms of what we have, and it is worse than covid itself.
