We have learned many things

from COVID-19.

1. It’s about quantity, not quality.
    The important thing is not how happy you are, but how many years you live. For too long, we have casually tossed off phrases like ‘let’s throw caution to the winds!’ as we down another whiskey shot. For some, ‘live hard, die young’ has been the motto, but this virus has taught us that we must become more and more cognizant of what shortens our lives. The thing to remember, is that though such a life may not seem enjoyable now -- if you expose yourself to illness and disease, you will most certainly pay for it later. So if you can possibly manage it — just don’t do anything. That’s the surest way to live a long, long life.

2. The old should be left alone.
    All those years we were hugging them and kissing them.  Sure, it was uncomfortable -- seeing them like that — ‘old’—  and imagining it might happen to us one day too. Now we know that it’s simply too dangerous for old people to have contact with the young. They must be put away somewhere— in buildings that no one enters — except for nurses and other trained personel, heavily supplied with PPE. Don’t worry, the old people will be fine. They can always chat with you on their iPads, and it will be virtually the same as having you there.

3. Stand together by standing apart.
    This is one of the most important of all the lessons. Before, we thought that when we were physically close, we were ‘together.’ What an old fashioned concept! We can be completely and utterly together in so many ways, even when we are far apart. Even more together in fact. We can send virtual hugs, kisses, pictures of our favourite pets, or just pictures of dogs and cats that we find on the internet and cherish, and want to share. We have to embrace the apparent contradiction (of course I mean embrace it virtually) and understand that being safe is what brings us all together. It's being unsafe that ultimately tears us apart.

4. Because, after all, home is where the heart is.
    This is undoubtedly the most important lesson to learn, but it’s most certainly the most difficult one. There have always been excuses for not staying home. “I’m bored’ or ‘I want a drink in a bar’ or, even:  'I want to pick up a street whore for casual sex! ’ Today, we can see how silly such sentiments are. Dorothy was right in The Wizard of Oz — ‘There’s no place like home.’ After all Dorothy traveled practically to another planet searching for happiness, when all the while that happiness was at home, on the farm — with ‘Auntie ‘Em’ and the three farm hands (who were not, in reality, a scarecrow a tin man or a cowardly lion). Once Dorothy realized her folly she also understood how silly the song ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ really was. (They didn’t put this in the movie, but that’s what happened.) Now this final lesson may be  difficult for some. Most of us -- with computers, yoga mats, and big backyards — will understand.  (And let’s face it, these days we all know for sure that there’s nothing better than a big backyard!). But there are those who  must be taught this lesson over and over again, because their situation is not exactly the same as ours. Let’s say for instance, that you are a young girl, and your father is an alcoholic and a drug addict, and you live in one room with him and your mother. Let’s say that he has always beat your mother. And late at night when your mother is asleep he sneaks into your bed and rapes you. Well lately, now with losing his job he’s been doing a lot more drugs. In fact each day during COVID-19 — when your mother is making the daily trip to buy toilet paper (masked, it’s a necessity!) — he rapes you for the second time that day. In this particular situation it may be harder for you to remember, little girl, that it is safer for you to be at home. But consider this. Let’s say you you were to go outside — or worse yet — try and run away.  And you might say -- ‘I’m young and I probably won’t get sick from COVID-19!’ While though that’s statistically true, l beg to differ. There are some cases in which children have suffered from a very rare limb inflammation disease that might be related to COVID-19. But never mind that! It’s about time — little girl — that you stopped thinking about yourself! If you run away from home you run the risk of infecting others with COVID-19. Others may die because of your selfish acts! Thank about that. Sure, your life seems troubling at home, and maybe it is troubling but when it comes down to it, what’s one more rape a day? What’s more important is that if you run away from home you may cause others to die. Listen little girl, you’d better start considering other people for a change — not just your own needs. After all, you are not alone on this planet!
    
5. It's wonderful, —when you think about it -- all the lessons we have learned from COVID-19. And if this horrible plague ever ever goes away (which won’t happen for a long time— and anyway —  it will probably be followed by another pandemic — even worse than this one) we will carry these lessons with us, forever. Yes COVID-19 has changed our lives. And ultimately, for the better, don’t you think?