So That's Why They Weren't Running

[kevin_standlee]

Some of you may recall that the California Zephyr stopped running west of Denver for a while, with no alternative service provided. (Thus cutting off all service for stations from Colfax CA to Winter Park CO inclusive.) The service has since been restored, although from the look of the passing trains each morning and afternoon, they're nearly empty, which isn't a surprise. I learned this weekend while reading the latest issue of Trains the reason for the service suspension: a member of the CZ on-board service crew tested positive for COVID-19, meaning the entire crew had to go into isolation for two weeks and the equipment on which the crew member worked had to be extra-deep-cleaned. That meant that Amtrak didn't have enough crew or equipment to run the full Chicago-Emeryville (CA) service for a while.

Meanwhile, in my part of the country, it appears to me that we have a bunch of Tough Guys who are convinced that sheltering from a virus means they are Girly Men (which is A Fate Worse Than Death) and that they should dress up in lots of camo gear and body armor (I've been calling it "military cosplay"), carry lots of big guns, and assert their manliness. As if a virus can be intimidated by toting guns and claiming that "freedom" means "standing up to the virus." I suggest that such men should also consider going out with their large pieces of metal equipment during a thunderstorm and shooting their guns into the clouds to show how tough they are. It would be just as effective, and on the bright side, they'd only kill themselves rather than every other person they came into contact with after discovering that nature can't be intimidated by being macho.

Oh, and I think that if non-white people wore the same sort of gear these wannabe-heroes are wearing and toted the same sort of weapons while marching around chanting slogans, they'd probably end up getting shot by the police, and these same people who think you can intimidate a virus would be cheering for "terrorists getting what they deserved."

Comments

[ladythmpr]

Re: your last two paragraphs: Alas, I think you are so right.

[wild_patience]

*nods in agreement*

[katster]

Yep. And every time I see what they want, or hear somebody say 'why are we destroying the economy over a few lives?', I hear 'I don't care if your mother dies.' This is just adding to the anxiety and anger I'm feeling, and I don't have any clear way to vent it.

[kevin_standlee]

Like you, I hear them saying, "I don't care if anyone I don't personally know or care about dies." They've picked up on that lack of empathy at the top. One of them claimed he'd rather die that remain cooped up. I told him something along the lines of, "I don't care if you kill yourself from stupidity, but why do you think you have to take a bunch of other people with you?" He told me what an idiot I was. He's the one whose profile picture suggested to me that he go try shooting thunderstorms to show how Manly Man Man Man Who is Manly he is. And if he does come down with the virus, I really doubt he'll refuse all medical treatment and take his death Like A Manly Manly Man.

[ravan]

This.

When they say "a few lives" or "just old people" that means people like my mother, at 78, my ife, at 68, or me, at 58. I have an entire household of people over 55 - so what they are saying is that they would kill all of us for a boost in their stock price, or a haircut and mani-pedi.

My reaction is always "You first. Go volunteer in a COVID -19 ward, I'm sure they need the help."

They are willing to sacrifice me and mine to "open up the economy".

Don't they know that dead people can't shop?

I have fleeting dreams of being able bodied and a crack marksman. I am neither.

[delosharriman]

That the personnel & equipment of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation are barely adequate for routine service, with no kind of reserves in case of a disruption, ought to be considered a national scandal.

---

It's true that I've seen black folks walking around, these past few weeks, with bandannas over their faces, & thought, "gosh, as late as February that would have been an invitation to be shot by police." Meanwhile you have "preachers" like Kenneth Copeland (the disgrace of Tarrant County, & the very type of a false prophet), the kind who usually promise people "God will make you wealthy if you just send your money to me" substituting "healthy".

[lindadee]

I always wave to people I see who are social distancing, and they generally wave back.