In early 2020 we heard rumblings and stories about the coronavirus.  We had no idea of what to do with the information.  However, two years ago in March, we all had to face reality.  Around March 10^th, which is my wife’s birthday, it all hit home. We had to face reality.  There was a pandemic.

Story after story made this pandemic real.  In no particular order, Tom hanks tested positive, the first NBA player tested positive after mocking the reporters, the league then postponed the season. This all culminated with the shutdown.

Personally, I went to the Apple store and saw that it was almost empty.  My family cancelled a Persian New Year celebration.  I was planning to go watch my friend speak in San Diego, which got cancelled.  My sons were planning to go to school online.

For the first few months, we were all in a haze.  We did not know what we could and could not do.  We were spaying down everything.  Every time I would take a ride in my chair, I could not come in the house without my wife, Leslie, spraying my chair.  We were introduced to masks and social distancing.

I want to talk about the other side of the pandemic.  Although it was awful, inconvenient, some people got really sick, the health care industry got slammed, and some people lost loved ones, it could have been a lot worse.

The economy did not crash because of amazing economic levers.  Medicines and vaccines were developed quickly.  Although there are some people who hope to never be on another zoom call, the technology made our lives infinitely easier.  It allowed homeschooling and working virtually.  So much heartache was avoided by technology.  Although it’s not ideal, imagine life without these technologies.  Or, imagine if a pandemic in the 80s or 90s.  It would compound an already challenging situation.  Also, imagine if the virus was more contagious or deadly.

The good news is that it looks as though we are coming out and we are starting to get back to the way life used to look.