OK Boomer – Thoughts on staying home

Twenty years ago we passed through what could have been a global crisis, AKA Y2K, with hardly a bump in the road. For a number of years leading up to 2000 people were warned about what could happen, lights going out, financial systems crashing, chaos. When the date passed and little to nothing happened the scoffers emerged proclaiming it was all hysteria for nothing. Why was it so hyped up and worrisome. Starting in 1997 my IT team in the banking industry worked on nearly nothing else but replacing, upgrading, repairing, testing and re-testing systems so we could all sleep comfortably after midnight December 31, well, so everybody else could. We were up monitoring and on call in case something failed. Ratchet ahead 20 years, another global crisis has emerged and the scoffers are back, trying to minimize, reduce, and raise doubt. They will not grow quieter. Legislators grouse over stay at home orders. Leaders claim that tests are perfect and we’re ready to start opening our doors again.There is too much that we do not know. There is not enough testing to know how extensive the rate of infection is. We cannot yet vaccinate against it. There are even too many vagaries about how and when it is transmitted. It is still time to be cautious. If you can, stay home. Listen to public health officials, don’t listen to the scoffers. The numbers we know about are not good, but, like twenty years ago, if we don’t do what we need to do right now, our numbers might just become far worse.