 |
| Little did they know... |
Claimed by many to be the worst year that they can remember, 2020's end brought forth a celebration like few others: distant families Zoom called each other, friends stayed home and posted on social media, many went to bed well before midnight. Others wanted to be sure:
"No, I stayed up. I was worried that we were going to get a call at 11:58, saying my grandmother had caught some fast-acting COVID or something and was already dead. It's been that kind of year," said Marshall Tonkin, of Shreveport, LA.
Between the coronavirus epidemic, political squabbling, and tensions exacerbated by both, many have lost loved ones in death and in the breakdown of communication.
"My Nana thinks the COVID vaccine contains microchips from Bill Gates. What on Earth does Bill Gates want to chip my grandmother for? If it could help her not call me from the grocery store to ask why she went there, maybe it would be for the best. Like, I don't know why you went there. Why would I? You just can't talk to her anymore. It's always, 'They've got it in for Trump this, and the Democrats are demons that.' Yeah Nana, they've got it in for him because he's a criminal." commented Allison Dubronik of Mendi, IA.
But what no one in the United States seems to be able to remember is how awful everyone thought 2019 was. The online optimism that was pervasive at the beginning of 2020 has long been forgotten, even as Timehop and Google photos remind people of where they were a year ago, the connection to the present is missed.
"Ugh. I can't wait for 2021," said Allan Singh of Tempe, AZ. "This whole thing has been a show that rhymes with 'hit.'"
Mr. Singh is unaware of two things, however: First, he made the exact same joke (editor's note: the use of the word joke is... iffy) last year. Second, he has absolutely no idea how terrible 2021 will be.
When a third COVID strain breaks down supply chains and production capability in April, Congress will pass a "Necessary Measures" bill giving them the ability to militarily conscript workers into essential frontline jobs. Mr. Singh, who claimed that retail was an essential service because people need clothes, will not remember those words either when he is forced to work forty hours a week at a Footlocker, forty-five minutes from his home.
"2020 was the crucible. 2021 is my reward," said Jocelin Hargrave of Newport, RI. Unaware that her reward would bring her utter and complete financial ruin when the value of the dollar crashes in May, set off by an increase in virus transmission and vaccine shortages all over the world. With international markets in chaos, Ms. Hargrave will spend her last months of 2021, living in her boyfriend's uncle's basement.
As coastlines disappear to climate change-related weather incidents, and droughts related to the same phenomenon cause border disputes and civil wars across the map, refugee crises will add fuel to viral fires across the world. Disparity between the wealthy and impoverished lead to unrest in traditionally stable democracies, leading to the rise of demagogues, promising reform but issuing fascist-style fiats that play upon the fears of the populace. International trading, long having dispersed the means of production across the globe, will grind to a halt from the stresses of tariffs, inconsistent regulation, and economic turmoil. With a populace to specialized into bureaucratic and officious employment to adapt to the needs of a world without international industry, societal breakdown becomes ubiquitous. Developing nations are hit hard and first, but because the post-industrialized nations, not having known real want in decades, are plunged into fury. 2021 is later referred to in history books as "the first bad year of many," with 2020 largely left out.
In 2134, a historian says, "They wanted people to stay home in 2020. Oh wow. I bet that's about as bad as the cannibal slave markets of 2022."
FROM ALL OF ME AT THE BIG TOBACCO:
No comments:
Post a Comment