It’s Time for Someone to Lead

So here we are: the economy is tanking, the coronavirus is terrorizing us, and we’re so paralyzed by uncertainty and fear that we don’t know where to turn. Our elected leader once again demonstrates he is not up to the task. It’s time for someone to lead. This is what she should say.

Yes: it’s a scary time, one without precedent, without a history to reassure and guide. We’re charting new ground, even when it seems like we’re just digging a hole. We – each of us individually, in small groups, as a family – feel alone, adrift amid forces that are overwhelming. We’re stock-piling, hording our fears into the pantry, packing our insecurities into garage shelves. We wait; we worry; we stress – which doubles down on us because we know stress reduces the strength of our immune system, weakening our ability to fight back. We’re friggin’ freaked.

There is no help from Washington, just false or inconsistent information. Our congress can’t get over partisan politics to pass legislation. Nobody has a plan. We’re sinking; we’re going down!

Well, forget that! We’re not going anywhere. We’re Americans – the most novel, creative, and innovative people on the planet. We have a long history of solving our way out of a jam. Two hundred years of courageous stories – that’s our precedent; that will be our guide. We are doing this! No more freezing up in fear. Today, we get it in gear. We march.

There will be short-term pain, to be sure. But we can deal with that. Ask anyone who has had an injury or surgery; ask someone who has endured a divorce or the death of a loved one; ask a person who has been unemployed; let a person with a disability tell you about the challenges of her life. They dealt with it; we’ve dealt with it. We will again, now, in 2020, together as Americans.

That patient went through rehab and recovery and is handling chronic pain. The divorcee got back on his feet and found love again. The laid-off worker found a new skill and a job way better. That American found her way through that disability and is making a good life for herself and her family. Head on, persistent, courageous. We’re Americans – sometimes a little crazy, pushing the boundaries, finding beauty to behold, humor to laugh at – even laughing at ourselves. But hey, we’re the ones who looked up at the night sky and went to the moon!

So no more idling or backing into corners. It’s full speed ahead. We can limit our physical proximity without shutting out our social connections. There’s an app for that! And when texting and photos and videos and wi-fi calls confirm the people you love are okay, it’s time to have dinner with friends, over skype. Sure, it’s a little weird; but these are the kinds of adaptations that get us through, that task our creativity, that will make great stories in the years to come when we remember the time that was, back in 2020.

We will share our horded security when an elderly neighbor runs low on food and doesn’t want to risk going out. We can change our habits to wash and wipe more times a day than we ever imagined. (Remember the hand moisturizer!) We will get used to “hi” and a quick wave, focusing more on eye contact and the compassion of words exchanged in greeting. Face masks will no longer terrorize us. Shunning hugs, we’ll maintain our distance – not as impropriety, but as courtesy and a sense of civic duty, of action, of patriotism. These are ways in which we show we care, we commit, we rise above.

We are Americans, but we will work forthrightly with other countries, with the other citizens of our planet. The Chinese handed us the genetic keys to solve this biological equation; we dropped them. But now we’re getting in gear. We can develop testing kits and eventually vaccines. We can run trials of behavior and drugs that will minimize the effects and lower the death rate. Not can; we will. Because that’s what we do.

We’re Americans. Time to mount up.