Pandemic practicality

It is imperative that the reading populace have some education about this plague. History has some things to teach us, and I have learned a few things in my lifetime.

No. 1: In the mid-1300s, the Black Death was unleashed in Europe (specifically seaports of Italy). The people came up with two ideas of why it was happening: 1. Cats and dogs were carrying it, so they killed thousands of cats and dogs. This allowed the rat population to flourish (fleas on the rats carried the bug). 2. Sincere zealots thought it was punishment from God and they started whipping themselves and “mortifying their flesh,” which loosed blood in the streets as they walked and whipped and wailed from village to village. The lesson: Always look for “unintended consequences.”

No. 2: The secret to surviving as a small-business owner is knowing when to panic. This axiom is applicable regarding the pandemic.

The position of the populace should be: We do not know; we cannot be complacent, nor is it sensible to panic. Do what you can to prevent getting infected or infecting others. If every citizen of Maumelle washes their hands for 20 seconds under running water, multiple times a day (and if this happens nationwide), the country’s fresh-water supply will be quickly flushed down the drains. This is an “unintended consequence.” Many do not know, and I hate to tell you, but Earth’s fresh water is in jeopardy.

No. 3: Cover your coughs and your sneezes. Not with your hands, but into your elbow. Practice doing this at home and before getting out of your car to enter a public place. Without practice, you will cough/sneeze and, only then, cover.

Finally, I would like to see every business, school, hospital and place that receives the public post an 8 x 11 sheet of paper with this message, written in a Sharpie: “Please cover your cough or sneeze; there is a plague among us.”

BILL STORMS Maumelle