Begone, the Ides of March!

On today, 2020's Ides of March, we have been fortunate enough to have the PotUS tackle the COVID-19 outbreak in an effective manner... by declaring a Day of Prayer:

TODAY IS A NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER. GOD BLESS EVERYONE!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2020

At least a good deal of the respondents are praying for his removal from office. On the other hand, some more stupid craw-thumpers are ignoring the advice of healthcare experts in order to appear like God's Own Tough Guys:

Right-wing pastor Rodney Howard-Browne is not about to cancel church or prevent congregants from shaking hands because they are not a bunch of "pansies." pic.twitter.com/C36kBIEWqF

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) March 15, 2020

Other right-wing 'influencers' are also trying to set their followers up for a Darwinian experience, such as Sheriff Flair:

This guy almost became an assistant secretary at DHS. https://t.co/0cDq58mn2V https://t.co/vu2XgspeUe

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) March 16, 2020

Lesser luminaries are revisiting the old paranoid tropes in order to angry up the militia subset of MAGAstan:

I first spotted shared lunacy about Ohio around 6:30. pic.twitter.com/JuowTqmwtu

— Melania's Belts (@MelaniasBelts) March 16, 2020

Meanwhile, at work most of the staff has been directed to work from home, or to take furlough if they can't work remotely. Even Ginger has gone home with one of our managers because of the reduced staffing. I'm essential personnel, and work alone most of the time, so my department is unaffected. Not all of the country is engaging in Oppositional Defiance Disorder, by which I mean contagion, in order to own the libs, by which I mean put vulnerable populations at risk.

On a personal note, I'm pretty well stocked here at home. Going camping every summer as a kid has taught me well about what to stock up on (lot of canned sardines, rice and dried legumes). My general lack of squeamishness has worked to my advantage, attested to by the large pot of chicken gizzards currently simmering on my stove. Before I finish up this post, I figure I'll relate an amusing anecdote about a trip to the grocery store yesterday (when I garnered said gizzards).

I got out of work at 7AM and figured I'd hit the Stop-n-Shop near work to see what pickings could be had. A big block of cheese, several packages of chicken gizzards, a box of Wheat Thins, and several cans of sardines packed with hot peppers later, I got on line for the cashiers. The gent in front of me had an eighteen pack of Michelob Ultra in his cart, and I joked, "Can't face an apocalypse without beer!" The general mood was chaotic but good-natured. No fights, a little grim humor, a feeling that we'd get through this crisis together by getting through it alone. When he approached the cash register, he got the bad news... by law, the store couldn't sell the beer until 8AM (it's noon on Sundays). Rather than getting angry at the cashier, a patient girl, the two came up with a clever solution- he would give her the money so he could take his groceries to the car, wait a couple of minutes, then return so she could scan the 18-pack without necessitating his return to the customer queue.

In trying times, get smart. Piety and defiance won't save us, but cleverness and mutual regard will. A Day of Prayer wasn't needed on this Ides of March, but a Day of Decency or two, by which I mean twenty, will see us through.