What can we do for each other? Plenty

Even during a pandemic, turns out, people will cheer themselves up with clever memes. The one we liked best this week said: “Our grandparents were called to go to war. We’re being asked to stay home and sit on the couch. You got this.”

While the impact of the coronavirus on our lives, on our finances, on our culture and the economy — not to mention our health — will be significant in the coming months, the line does give one the opportunity to chuckle, pause and put things in some sort of perspective. If nothing else, it provides a break from all the head-shaking about hoarding toilet paper.

But even that says something about our current situation. As a thoughtful friend put it: “It’s fascinating to realize how very little of what I’m worried about I can actually control, which is really always the case. I think this realization is why people are buying TP. It’s silly, but it’s something they can do. And while I didn’t do that, I did buy a few cans of veggies in case fresh runs out down the road, with the rationalization that I can donate the cans later this year.”

So, here we are, or at least a lot of us — working from home, surrounded by extra toilet paper and canned vegetables, nervously checking the stock market, reading the latest headline, and wondering how long this will last and how bad it will get.

We’ve been heartened, at least so far, by the steps being taken to try to slow the spread of the virus. Gov. Mike DeWine’s rapid, steady, science-based approach to the pandemic has received praise nationally as a model for how governments should respond, and it has been encouraging to see most local leaders and business owners fall into step with his directives.

That said, those directives are creating enormous financial hardships for a great many of our friends and neighbors. Treating the pandemic with the seriousness it requires, we are learning, will come at quite a cost.

But it’s also been heartening to see the latest wave of stories about how people are trying to help one another get through this trying time. It’s no secret to anyone in the Dayton area that we’ve already had plenty of practice with that, after last year’s tornadoes and the summer’s mass shooting. It’s a tribute to folks here that people are already doing what they can about the coronavirus, rather than bemoaning the latest troubles as one more thing that’s befallen us.

And what can we do? First, be patient. NPR reported last week that as steps taken to control the virus become more inconvenient, fewer people are taking the disease seriously. “In the face of the coronavirus worsening across the U.S. and reordering the daily life of millions of Americans, fewer people view the pandemic as a real threat, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.” Let’s all agree it’s too soon for that. For this to work, it’s going to take time. We don’t know how much. Be patient.

Next, be kind. This is a stressful time. People deal with stress in different ways, and no one’s situation is the same. Not everyone can work at home. Not everyone who has to can necessarily afford it. Some people have lost their jobs. Others fear that’s on the horizon. Some people have to go to work, and they may be afraid. Keep these things in mind as you interact with others.

Third, if you have the means to do so, consider ways to help keep local businesses afloat. Buy gift cards from local shops or restaurants that have had to close. Take a delivery from the eateries that are offering them, to help keep them going. Write a check to the Foodbank, the United Way or any of the many local nonprofits that are working hard to help people get by. Listen for how you can help financially; Shaun Yu, the head of WDPR-FM, Dayton’s classical radio station, asked last week that patrons of arts groups not seek refunds on tickets to shows that had to be canceled — but instead to consider that a donation to struggling organizations that are losing needed revenue. We hadn’t thought of that.

What else can you do? Plenty. Take social distancing seriously. Stay home if you can. Wash your hands — often. Now wash them again. Phone a neighbor who may be feeling isolated and lonely. Stay abreast of the news. Pay attention to your health and the health of your loved ones and friends. Don’t post mean, ignorant or uninformed stuff on social media. Don’t panic.

In the spare time we’ve had to read while cooped up at home, we ran across a column from John Kass, a Chicago Tribune writer whose work often appears on these pages. He observed, “We will get through this. And along the way, we’ll learn exactly who we are.” He’s right, and in that lies a great opportunity we’ve all been given. Let’s do our best with it.