COVID plus anger a deadly combination

I’m typing this on the lounge on my deck on Sunday afternoon. The old dog insists on sharing my space, her haunch touching mine. She’s breathing so hard the computer is shaking. We adapt to each other’s needs.

If only the rest of the world saw it that way.

The news this weekend frightened me. In big cities all over the U.S., people were rioting, breaking windows, looting, and starting fires. Police and military personnel were lined up to try to stop them, but the rioters were throwing things at them and seemingly unstoppable. The sounds of flash grenades, breaking glass, and angry shouting filled the streets of Minneapolis, Seattle, San Jose, Portland, and so many other cities.

This all started last week when a police officer in Minneapolis knelt on a black man’s neck until he died. George Floyd, who was accused of using counterfeit money at a deli, was pleading for mercy, saying he couldn’t breathe, but the cop didn’t let up. There’s a video of it that keeps showing on social media. I can’t watch.

The three cops involved were fired. The one with the knee has been charged with third-degree murder. Not enough, people say. Outraged by yet another instance of white cop violence against black people, people have gone nuts.

There were some peaceful protests—speeches, signs, singing, prayers. In fact, there’s going to be one today in front of Newport’s city hall at 2 p.m. That makes sense. We need to mark the horror of this and try to stop it from happening again.

But it didn’t stop with peaceful demonstrations. Something broke loose, and people started destroying their cities. I watched on TV as looters smashed store windows, ran in and grabbed stuff and put it in their cars, with no concern for the poor business owners who had nothing to do with George Floyd’s death and are just trying to survive COVID-19. Some are just reopening. Some, like in Portland, are still in lockdown, losing money every day as it is.

Many of those arrested in the melee are reportedly young white men, not brokenhearted black people. There are all kinds of rumors about terrorist groups, white supremacists and people fed up with the COVID restrictions. I don’t know, but I’m appalled. George Floyd’s brother was on TV yesterday pleading for the rioters to stop. His brother wouldn’t want this.

The virus didn’t seem to be on anyone’s minds. The cops and journalists wore masks, but many of the destroyers violated all the rules, their mindset being “nobody can tell us what to do.”

Anarchy frightens me. I get real scared when people are out of control.

Walking with Annie, I noticed how the greenery has grown like crazy in this spring of alternating sun and rain. Ferns, buttercups, berries, salal, wild daisies, and scotch broom are all growing willy-nilly, out of control, one might say, like those people. But plants are not like people because they don’t destroy anything for the sake of destruction. Animals either. They only kill so they can eat. They don’t rip things up for the hell of it. What is wrong with humans? For the first time in my life, I am beginning to believe Satan or at least some evil entity exists.

I know everyone is tired of sheltering in place. I know that masks are uncomfortable. I know people have lost their jobs and their income. Their kids can’t go to school, and we can’t visit each other, even in the hospital, and it sucks. I know that all these coronavirus precautions may seem like overkill, especially if we’re someplace like Newport which so far has only a few confirmed cases, but that’s no reason to start destroying things or fighting with each other.

I enjoyed our long walk. It’s gorgeous out here this time of year. But I’m scared, probably more scared of the anger than I am of the virus. I thank God I live out here in the woods with Annie, who never gets angry and who accepts the rules as necessary for our mutual health and comfort. Can’t leave without a leash? Fine. Have to wait to eat until Sue says grace? Fine. Have to leave the sticks outside? Oh, okay. Why can’t people be the same way?

Why are people rioting when most of us are just trying to stay alive? What will the COVID numbers look like two weeks from now? God help us.

Forgive the sermonette. I’m troubled. Pray if you believe. Whatever you believe, spread peace and love, not hate or coronavirus. Pass it on.

Author: Sue Fagalde Lick

writer/musician California native, Oregon resident Author of Freelancing for Newspapers, Shoes Full of Sand, Azorean Dreams, Stories Grandma Never Told, Childless by Marriage, and Up Beaver Creek. Most recently, I have published two poetry chapbooks, Gravel Road Ahead and The Widow at the Piano: Confessions of a Distracted Catholic. I have published hundreds of articles, plus essays, fiction and poetry. I'm also pretty good at singing and playing guitar and piano. View all posts by Sue Fagalde Lick