LET'S OPEN UP THE COUNTRY

I have a confession to make.

Last weekend, I packed a lunch and headed out to a scenic spot down by the lake. This, despite the governor’s order for most of us to stay home. After all, there’s a nasty virus going around. Right?

But I wasn’t having it. I had run out of household chores (yes, the place is now impeccably clean), and I needed to get out. It’s springtime in Southern California, and the poppies are in full bloom. Who can resist?

As it turned out, some of my favorite locations were off-limits: gates closed, barricades up, all manner of signs that bade me “go away.” But as luck would have it, I found a picnic table in an obscure space away from the main road. And (hopefully) far from the prying eyes of the state enforcers. For about 30 minutes I shared this quiet corner with birds, squirrels, and several thousand trees. (Oh, and a few scattered beer bottles.)

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And with that, my soul was refreshed.

In this quiet moment, I had a chance to reflect. Our federal, state, and local governments want to protect us from this highly contagious disease. How best to do so? The theories and approaches abound. The government scientists favor one extreme, while the chamber of commerce-types favor the other. Which way should we go?

All over our nation, I’m seeing protest marches. Our countrymen are tired of staying indoors; they want to dine at a restaurant, take in a movie, worship at church, frolic at the beach. Yeah, me too. But when they complain that their constitutional rights have been denied? I’m not so sure. There’s a bigger picture here, which some don’t want to admit.

Now, everybody take a breath.

While I agree that some of our mitigation measures are excessive, I can respect the intention behind them. We’ve never done this before. Nobody has an authoritative playbook. Even our most exalted scientists only know a few things with any certainty; everything else is only a best guess. Our president put Mike Pence in charge of the committee to fight this thing; I wish he would just stand aside and allow the vice-president to do his job and enjoy a rare day in the sun.

Millions of people are out of work, many of whom were in desperate financial condition even before this disaster. Because they’re not driving to work, the oil industry struggles. Businesses were forced to close, and now timid about when and how to re-open. State and federal tax revenues have plummeted, because hardly anyone is working or shopping or dining out.

So, how can we find a reasonable way forward?

I don’t believe that any of our leaders are interested in destroying the economy, by continuing these lockdowns indefinitely. And it would certainly be a mistake to suddenly lift all restrictions. Surely no mayor or governor wants to be responsible for re-igniting the pandemic in their jurisdiction. As we all know, the path of wisdom is rarely found in extremes.

So how about this?

According to the CDC, over 90% of deaths from COVID-19 have been people with known pre-existing conditions: asthma, obesity, COPD, diabetes, kidney disease, AIDS, over 65, and so on. So, let these vulnerable populations continue in their home confinement for now.

For the rest of us, let’s reclaim some of our freedom. Wear a mask when you’re out in public places. Continue washing your hands regularly, and keep the sanitizer handy. Be mindful that others around you might feel uncomfortable if you get too close.

Allow the restaurants to operate, say, six hours per day or fewer days a week. Limit their seating capacity, and hand out disposable paper menus. Or, post giant menus on the wall (so that no one has to handle a dirty menu).

If I get bumped from a restaurant because of their limited seating, let me get my dinner to-go and dine at a picnic table in a public park.

Likewise, allow other retailers to reopen with limited hours and limited occupancy.

As restaurant sales cratered during this pandemic, supermarket sales surged. (You have to eat one way or the other, right?) If we open up the restaurants, the grocery lines will abate and you won’t have to fight over that last quart of milk.

Allow our houses of worship to gather, on a limited basis. Congregations that normally have a single weekly meeting, could break it up into several smaller groups.

Let’s preserve our democracy by re-instituting meetings of public agencies such as city councils. If the room gets too crowded, you can provide a room for overflow seating with a video feed.

At my local gym, the only service I use is the swimming pool. (Translation: I immerse myself in 10,000 gallons of anti-viral disinfectant.) Let me swim.

Some children do well with online distance learning, while others don’t. Let’s open up the schools, maybe at half-capacity, or a half-day schedule. If some students still prefer to study from home, let them.

Dodger Stadium has 56,000 seats, but we don’t have to fill them all. Let’s play ball, even with small crowds.

All businesses thrive on their creativity. That is, they continually work to solve problems and beat out the competition. Let’s unleash our employers to get creative, and devise their own unique solutions. Half-day shifts, staggered shifts, temporary barriers between departments. All while wearing masks and washing hands and preserving personal space.

Our government can’t keep on printing money forever. And even if they could, do we really want to cultivate an ongoing state of dependency?

I vote no. Let’s get back to work.