WEBVTT - Winter of Our Discontent 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.600 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to woka F Daily with 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:18.720 Meet your Girl Danielle Moody, recording from the Brooklyn Bunker. 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:26.040 There are some days, folks, where I just I don't know, 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:33.000 you know, where I wake up and I meditate and 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:40.199 I try and get into a clear focus space, um 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:44.960 to start the day off on a good foot. And 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:48.680 what I'm finding over the last couple of weeks that 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:55.000 it is getting harder and harder to find hope, to 0:00:55.320 --> 0:01:01.840 find good in what is transpiring. To think that, you know, 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:03.960 it was just a couple of weeks ago that we 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:09.200 had Thanksgiving and folks were gathering again, and you know, 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:11.479 oh my goodness, just to think, you know, a year 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:15.720 ago we were on zoom Thanksgivings and we didn't know 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:18.200 what was happening. And now we have a vaccine and 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:21.840 we have boosters, and you know, believing that we were 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:27.040 working our way back to some sense of normalcy within 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:33.240 three weeks from Thanksgiving. We are in such a different 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:37.640 state of being, and the instability of it all, how 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:43.800 quickly things are devolving with this new variant. We're seeing 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:50.080 headlines once again of shows being canceled and games being canceled, 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:52.960 and you know, if you were headed back into work, 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:58.080 you've probably received emails about that being postponed, and there 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:05.560 is just this gloom, this desperation, this anxiety that once again, 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:10.440 it's like hello, darkness, my old friend, it is returning. 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:16.720 A couple of weeks ago, uh, maybe two weeks ago, 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:18.880 at this point, I was getting ready to go to 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:22.320 a holiday party, right because it seemed safe to be 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:25.800 able to do that, you know, so long as you 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:29.680 were putting together what you thought were safe COVID protocols. 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:33.680 Everybody go and get a negative test and you know, 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:37.120 and you know, show proof of vaccination, and then we 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:39.960 could gather maybe still not in these large groups, but 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:44.360 at least in small ones. And I went to this 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:48.720 you know, holiday gathering of roughly like twenty twenty five people, 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:54.320 and you know, again it just it felt like, you know, 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:58.000 slowly things were coming back to this sense of normal, 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:01.359 or at least a new normal where we put protocols 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:04.079 in place, but that we were able to gather once again. 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:09.799 Days following that event, received a phone call was a 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:14.079 breakthrough infection. Everybody needs to go and get tested. Thankfully, 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:17.640 at that time I was testing negative and still you know, 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:21.040 right now testing negative, even though I have come into 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:24.320 contact with yet not one, not two, but three people 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:30.919 who have had breakthrough infections. Right now, I am testing negative, 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:39.320 but the sense of fear that I have just continues 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:43.240 to build so much so that I am like, you know, 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:47.720 I'm just trying to make at home for the holidays, 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:51.200 Like I'm just trying to get there so that I 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:57.080 can just go back into my original COVID pod with 0:03:57.240 --> 0:04:00.960 my parents, with my sister and just close out the 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:05.080 world for the next couple of days, just to give 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:10.160 my mind my heart some rest and reprieve. And I 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:15.240 know that you all are feeling the same way. It 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:20.000 just feels like the pressure continues to mount. And you know, 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:24.080 in my upcoming conversation with our friend doctor Jonathan Metzel, 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.240 it's the last one on one that we will have 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:32.119 of twenty twenty one. You know, he struggles to try 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:37.840 and find some hope. But essentially what Jonathan offers is 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:42.080 a really stark warning that the next four to six 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:47.640 weeks in America are going to be terrible. That you know, 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:52.799 as I am broadcasting right now, the first reported death 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:57.080 from the omicron variant has been reported, and has been 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:04.320 reported in Texas. I think that the news has been 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:11.080 making false statements when they say that the omicron variant 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:16.080 is mild. I think that we have no idea and 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:22.520 by using terminology like mild, what you are giving people 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:26.200 is a false sense of hope. We have no idea 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:29.279 what the long terms effect, what the long term effect 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:32.800 of alpha is, the long term effect of delta, or 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:36.200 the long term effect of omicron. We have no idea 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:40.200 why it is breaking around the vaccinations and the boosters, 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:43.360 but we do know that those that have been vaccinated 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:47.080 and boosted are less likely to show up on ventilators, 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:51.039 are less likely to be clogging up our hospital systems. 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:55.960 But as I'm watching the numbers, the numbers in Tennessee 0:05:56.080 --> 0:06:00.120 and other Red states are in the double digits of 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:03.520 their infection rates. Tennessee right now is at a seventeen 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:08.520 point three percent infection rate that is higher than some 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:17.080 developed fucking nations. Right, And we have just developed this 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:25.200 sense of anger and fear and resentment towards one another 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:29.560 as this has all been transpiring because of right, because 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:33.599 of our initial response that was hailed by the Trump 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:38.000 administration and Republicans to turn this all into political folly 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:41.080 for their own gain. Who cares if over eight hundred 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:44.920 thousand Americans are dead because of them? Who cares if 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:48.120 they had all of the pertinent information to keep us 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:52.400 safe at that time and then chose not to. No 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:54.680 one is going to go to jail. No one is 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:59.640 going to be charged, right. I'm just so tired these 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:06.920 days of seeing white, wealthy, powerful people do such fucking harm, 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:13.520 cause such devastation, and nothing happened to them. They just 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:16.120 get new jobs and are in different positions to be 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:18.520 able to do the same things over and over again. 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:22.040 I tweeted this week that I think that Merrick Garland 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:26.240 may be one of the most ineffectual and week United 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:30.480 States Attorney generals that we have ever seen. Given every 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:34.040 bit of information from the insurrection to the coronavirus, he 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:39.320 has done nothing. This Department of Justice has done nothing. Right. 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:43.520 We continue to act as if you know, all of 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:47.520 these deaths are just attributed to God's will, when in 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:51.840 fact they are not. The political leaders that were in 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:58.040 charge in twenty twenty failed us, and they knowingly failed us. Right, 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:01.000 It wasn't oh my god, we have no idea what 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:02.920 we're doing. We're just trying to do the best that 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:07.680 we can and people died. No, they received the information, 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:09.960 they chose not to share it with the public. And 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:12.200 not only did they not share it, It's not as 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:14.800 if they were like, oh, we're just gonna zip our mouths. No, 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:18.840 they did the complete and total opposite of what doctors 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:24.680 and what scientists were telling them. And that put almost 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:31.120 a million Americans at risk of death. Eight hundred thousand, folks. 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:34.480 I keep saying that before the end of the first 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:39.280 quarter in twenty twenty two, a million Americans, more than 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:46.760 any other nation, will have died. And we still have 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:54.760 an entire news network telling people lies while they put 0:08:54.800 --> 0:09:00.200 together their own vaccine protocols, their own booster protocols. But 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:03.080 what they're putting on air is a complete and total opposite. 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:07.480 And I ask again, where's the FCC. Why aren't these 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:13.600 people being charged? Why aren't they being fined at the 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:19.040 very least, why aren't there big blackout screens before every 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:22.520 Fox anchor goes on that says this is for entertainment 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:27.240 purposes only. This content you know is rated you know 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:32.640 whatever you know, rated and rated f rated whatever for 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:38.880 its lies, for its misguidance, for its misinformation, all of 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:42.079 these things. It's like we can't even do the bare 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:46.800 fucking minimum to keep people safe. It isn't just enough 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:50.360 to come up with the tools and the tactics if 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:54.960 you're also not fighting against the continued misinformation that is 0:09:55.200 --> 0:10:00.760 responsible for all of these deaths. It is not enough 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:05.559 to just say, oh, we need to come together without 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:10.000 pointing the finger and letting people know who is responsible 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:14.640 for where we are right now. Jonathan will say later 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:19.679 in our interview that the lockdown measures that happened in 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:23.520 twenty twenty would be ineffectual now. And why is that 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:28.800 Because Amicron is a lot more contagious than Alpha was. 0:10:29.480 --> 0:10:32.280 You see, when we were dealing with the og alpha 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:36.200 COVID variant, right, you could be you needed to be 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:39.800 in space with people for ten to fifteen minutes, right, 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:43.640 which is why we said six feet of social distance, 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:47.000 which is why we said wear a mask. Because there 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:50.679 was less virus and it took longer for people to 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:55.800 be infected. Well, thanks to Republicans, thanks to their push 0:10:55.880 --> 0:11:00.199 back to science, thanks to their complete dismissiveness to facts, 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:06.480 we got into a political war where they decided to 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:11.240 side with a virus over the health and wellbeing of 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:16.760 the public. So when we could have mitigated and or 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:23.480 squashed COVID out with six feet of distance, with wearing masks, 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:29.040 and with agreeing collectively to lock down for an extended 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:35.200 period of time to wipe out the alpha. We didn't. 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.400 Then the delta shows up and guess what it was 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:42.480 more contagious than the alpha version, that you needed less 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:46.959 time to be in contact with people. And now omnicron 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:51.440 and what is that saying that basically you could walk 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:54.240 into your fucking hallway, you could walk out your front door, 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:57.360 and there is so much virus in the air, and 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:00.559 it is so so contagious that it is even more 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:05.400 so contagious than the measles were. And the reality is this, 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:11.080 we do not know the long terms effects of this virus. 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:14.440 What Jonathan will tell us is that it exists in 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:18.760 your body. You're seeing seeing pictures. And I wish that 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:21.960 they would have put this as PSAs and commercials in 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:25.040 the same way that they handled smoking back in the 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:30.240 nineteen nineties. Here's a lung free of COVID. Here's a 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:34.319 lung with COVID. Here are some of the long terms 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:37.280 effects of what we know to be true, which is 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:42.760 brain fog, which is fatigue, right that you continue to 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:50.280 get sick easier because your body is still fighting off 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:56.920 this virus. But we're not doing that. We're not taking 0:12:56.960 --> 0:13:01.440 this on and waging a campaign against those that are 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:05.160 doing their fucking damned this to make sure COVID never 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:12.000 leaves us. We are going into year two with a 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:17.719 variant that is out of control, and what we know 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:21.800 is that as quickly as Delta emerged, as quickly as 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:26.440 amicronover emerged, that there is going to be another variant 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:29.559 just waiting in the wings that is going to sweep 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:33.280 the globe as quickly as Amicron did. And that is 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:38.559 what it's terrifying me is that I'm trying, right, We're 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:42.400 all trying desperately to get to this holiday season so 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:46.440 that we can just have a week of reprieve. But 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:50.160 what is going to follow that week's long gathering with 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:53.080 our family and with our friends is going to be 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:59.800 the winter of despair. I'm not telling you not to go, 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:02.160 I'm not telling you not to have your family over, 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:06.600 But what I am saying is send them rapid tests 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.560 so that everyone can test before they come in the door. 0:14:10.800 --> 0:14:13.480 Will that mean that you're one hundred percent protected? No, 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:18.680 but maybe it can give you some ease. The lines 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:24.040 in New York are hours long to get tested. The 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:26.680 other day when I went before the holiday party, I 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:29.080 stood in line for two hours. I hadn't done that 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:34.840 since twenty twenty. And now people are standing in line 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:40.040 once again, going on three, four five hours to get tested. 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:43.680 Test results that were once coming back in a few 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:46.560 hours are now taking days because the system is so 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:57.200 fucking overwhelmed. I wish that I could offer to all 0:14:57.240 --> 0:15:02.480 of you where we were in this cycle that we're in, 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:06.120 if we were at the beginning, the middle, close to 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:13.480 the end. But with each new variant, with each news report, 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:18.080 it just seems like we are doing Groundhogs Day here. 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:21.560 It's like that movie. It just keeps repeating like you're 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:24.600 waking up or its Memento, and it's just like didn't 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:30.600 this just happen? That we just keep reliving over and 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:35.000 over and over again. The first death has been reported, 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:38.360 it is not going to be the last. And my fear, right, 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:42.760 my fear, is that what we are going to realize 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:46.520 is that Omicron is not as quote unquote mild as 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:51.520 people are saying that it is, that it just takes longer. 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:59.600 I'm worried that's all. That's all I can say is 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:03.520 that I am worried. And you know what I am 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:08.320 trying to do is I am trying to meditate more. 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:13.080 I am trying to connect with friends and family, you know, 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:16.360 just call texts, check in with people to see how 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:20.440 they are doing. Because I am struggling to get through 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:25.359 this week. You know, I really am. I am struggling 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:32.000 at this point in time in using every single good 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:36.080 tool that I've been using in my toolbox to just 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:39.920 keep my spirits up. And it feels like nothing is 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:42.440 enough right now. And so what I say to you 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:50.400 is this, give yourselves grace. If you are down, if 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:54.440 you are depressed, if you are struggling to get out 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:59.600 of bed, sleep longer. If you are depressed, try and 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:02.360 reach out to somebody just to connect so that you 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:09.439 don't feel so isolated in your sadness. If you're able, 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:14.280 you know, get out and walk and stretch, take a 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:21.600 long shower, soak in a tub, take considerable breaks from 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:25.440 the news. If you don't have to watch it, give yourself, 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.920 you know, a timer and say I'm gonna watch this program, 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:32.040 or I'm gonna go on Twitter, I'm gonna read for 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:36.240 this amount of time thirty minutes, an hour, and that's it, 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:42.360 and then pick up another task, do something else that 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:47.800 allows you to have some type of break. And I 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:52.320 say that, friends, because I am feeling the weight of 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:56.800 this moment. I have been taking little breaks, but every 0:17:56.800 --> 0:18:00.760 time that I come back, it's like it's worse than 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:05.680 when I left, you know, And I know that I'm 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:08.160 not the only one that feels this way. And so 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:13.359 if you can pick up a book, right, turn on 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:18.119 a movie, to just go off into another world for 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:23.000 a bit, it allows us, you know, to bring our 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:27.399 quartisol levels down, because that's what rises up in our bodies. 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:32.120 That that is the stress hormone that you know, Meditation, 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:38.159 deep breathing, yoga, acupuncture, walking, gardening, you know, playing with 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:44.320 your pets that helps to release, right and bring down 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:48.280 those levels because when they are too high, friends, they 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:54.920 can cause a lot of serious illness. Right, if you're 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:58.240 feeling you know, you're having a lot of sleepless nights, 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:05.720 try some you know, melatonin, Try some CBD oils right, 0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:12.320 or tease or tincatures. Just start adding a little bit 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:17.560 more wellness and awareness into your daily state of being 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:21.359 so that you were not caught off guard by these 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:28.399 waves of unease, right because they knocked me down the 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:32.520 other day. I will tell you that I was sitting 0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:37.439 and talking to a friend and you know, we're waiting 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:40.199 the fifteen minutes as we were taking our at home tests, 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:44.399 and I burst into tears. I'm just like, I'm exhausted, 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:49.119 I'm tired. I'm tired of all of this, right Like, 0:19:49.160 --> 0:19:51.679 I thought we were getting to a place where we 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:54.280 figured out how we were going to be living with this, 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:57.160 and now I feel like we're back to square one. 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:01.760 And she, you know, responded, I know, I know, I 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:06.280 know it's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay, because 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:09.320 that's all we can say to one another. Right now, 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:17.440 give yourself grace, Extend grace to others, you know, try 0:20:17.480 --> 0:20:23.480 and make the best out of this season. Look for 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:27.600 moments of gratitude. If you're a prayerful person, do that. 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:33.359 If you're a meditative person, do that. Sit in silence 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:40.840 and just allow yourself to level out. We will make 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:46.280 it through, and we will make it through together. Coming 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:51.560 up next is my conversation our last Woke Wednesday conversation 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:56.639 with doctor Jonathan Metzel of twenty twenty one I hope 0:20:56.680 --> 0:21:00.080 that you know, you get some important information out of it. 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:04.920 Share it with your friends, your networks, your families. The 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:07.320 more that we can spread this information, the more that 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:11.560 we can share these shows, the better we will all 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:17.159 be folks. You know that when it is going to 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:19.680 be Wednesday, I am so excited to be joined by 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:23.320 our friend, our in house doctor, doctor Jonathan Metso who 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:26.800 if you can believe it, this is our last recording 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:31.480 together of twenty twenty one. We have been recording remote 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:36.680 for damn near two years and talking about COVID for 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:41.400 two years. Jonathan. Before we get to where we are presently, 0:21:41.480 --> 0:21:45.000 I want to do a little reflection moment of when 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:49.520 COVID came on the scene in you know, I guess 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:52.520 February March of twenty twenty one. It became part of 0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:56.560 our lexicon. Did you believe that we would like? What 0:21:56.680 --> 0:22:00.520 did you think was going to happen? It's funny. I 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:03.360 was thinking about that exact thing this morning, and several 0:22:03.400 --> 0:22:06.359 memories stood out for me. One was that the night 0:22:06.400 --> 0:22:09.040 before we realized it was a pandemic, but everybody knew 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:10.960 about it. I was at dinner in a kind of 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:14.399 random restaurant in Chelsea, and there was a line. It 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:16.520 was like one of those New York things where it's 0:22:16.520 --> 0:22:18.800 a huge restaurant but there's only one bathroom for like 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:22.440 nine hundred people, and we're waiting in line to get 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:25.760 in the bathroom, and everybody's jokingly singing had the Happy 0:22:25.800 --> 0:22:28.480 Birthday song, because at that time, the only thing we 0:22:28.520 --> 0:22:30.959 knew about the virus was if you wash your hands 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:34.440 and sing the Happy Birthday song twice, that was that's 0:22:34.440 --> 0:22:35.879 what got rid of the virus. And so we were 0:22:35.880 --> 0:22:38.320 all joking and singing Had Birthday, and we were complaining 0:22:38.320 --> 0:22:40.240 that the people in the bathroom were taking so long 0:22:40.560 --> 0:22:43.000 because they had a longer version of the Happy Birthday song. 0:22:43.040 --> 0:22:45.000 And it was kind of a jovial moment of like, oh, 0:22:45.040 --> 0:22:48.439 here's some random thing that's happening to us, and I 0:22:48.520 --> 0:22:51.119 missed those days where like that's all we thought we 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:53.359 had to do was like wash our hands and sing 0:22:53.359 --> 0:22:56.359 Happy Birthday. And I don't think any of us could 0:22:56.359 --> 0:23:00.280 have seen how that moment in the beginning, And sure 0:23:00.280 --> 0:23:02.639 everybody has stories like this, but everybody was saying, just 0:23:02.720 --> 0:23:05.680 get two weeks worth of food, you know, get enough 0:23:05.760 --> 0:23:08.639 cash if you have to bribe somebody for you know, 0:23:09.440 --> 0:23:13.200 furell or toilet favor for two weeks and and just 0:23:13.600 --> 0:23:15.520 you know whatever. So people were thinking about this the 0:23:15.560 --> 0:23:17.600 way we think about every other illness. Now, I wish 0:23:17.640 --> 0:23:20.440 I could just go back, and like, I wish I 0:23:20.480 --> 0:23:23.520 could just go back and know everything we know now, 0:23:23.640 --> 0:23:27.399 Like it sounds great to be that naive, but now 0:23:27.480 --> 0:23:30.640 it's almost like, I mean, the crazy thing is it's 0:23:30.800 --> 0:23:36.919 it's just um, it's just exponential threat, right, I Mean, 0:23:36.960 --> 0:23:39.119 that's the crazy thing about all this. That Alpha was 0:23:39.680 --> 0:23:43.160 Alpha was terrifying because we didn't have natural immunity, because 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:45.320 we didn't know the rules, we didn't know what it did. 0:23:47.600 --> 0:23:51.280 But Alpha was like an eight track tape player compared 0:23:51.320 --> 0:23:53.639 to you know, compared to what we have now. Um, 0:23:54.040 --> 0:23:56.679 then Delta seemed like the worst thing ever, which it 0:23:56.880 --> 0:24:00.840 was at the time. It was horrifically fatal for people. 0:24:01.000 --> 0:24:06.200 It was very, very spreadable. But that is like the 0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:09.880 junior varsity compared to now. And so now we've got 0:24:09.920 --> 0:24:13.680 a new as I call it oh micron, which is 0:24:14.320 --> 0:24:20.800 which is just raise the considerably on just how fast 0:24:20.840 --> 0:24:24.679 it spreads, how infectious it is. And so we're in 0:24:24.680 --> 0:24:27.240 the middle of something that we don't know where it's 0:24:27.280 --> 0:24:29.200 going to end. And I think part of the issue 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:32.920 is that was inconceivable two years ago. Two years ago, 0:24:33.000 --> 0:24:36.520 we felt like everything we knew, every trauma we knew, 0:24:36.600 --> 0:24:41.119 nine to eleven war, civil rights movement, everything had a 0:24:41.280 --> 0:24:43.200 like a beginning and a middle and an end. And 0:24:44.000 --> 0:24:46.600 so to be in the middle of something that is TVD, 0:24:47.080 --> 0:24:52.040 I think is as stressful and as anxiety causing as 0:24:52.160 --> 0:24:54.320 is just the fear of everything that's happening around us. 0:24:55.119 --> 0:24:58.640 You know, It's it's really interesting because you know, as 0:24:58.720 --> 0:25:00.399 we come to the end of the year, it is 0:25:00.480 --> 0:25:04.320 very natural to go through these different reflection moments, right like, 0:25:04.840 --> 0:25:06.960 how did the year treat me? What? You know, what? 0:25:06.960 --> 0:25:10.639 What what's transpired? And I've been going back, you know, 0:25:10.720 --> 0:25:13.919 beyond the beginning of twenty twenty one, two twenty twenty 0:25:13.960 --> 0:25:16.840 because I feel like we're locked in some type of 0:25:16.920 --> 0:25:20.520 crazy loop right now, right where it seems like things 0:25:20.560 --> 0:25:24.359 get better, then they get worse, then they get better, 0:25:24.640 --> 0:25:29.320 then they get fucking worse. So between alpha to delta, 0:25:29.640 --> 0:25:32.880 the thing that I've noticed about the virus is that 0:25:33.160 --> 0:25:38.080 it gets each with each iteration that becomes it becomes 0:25:38.680 --> 0:25:43.679 increasingly spreadable. Right, so from alpha to delta, they're like, 0:25:43.920 --> 0:25:47.159 this is spreading more, this is spreading faster. Then you 0:25:47.280 --> 0:25:51.400 go from delta to omicron and it's just like holy shit. 0:25:52.119 --> 0:25:55.359 You can walk out of your apartment and like and 0:25:55.359 --> 0:25:58.760 and and get this. And it seems to me, Jonathan, 0:25:58.840 --> 0:26:03.760 that do you feel like it's becoming inevitable that everyone 0:26:03.840 --> 0:26:06.800 is going to contract COVID at some time? Because I 0:26:06.840 --> 0:26:09.600 can tell you that for the friends that I have 0:26:09.720 --> 0:26:13.720 who are vaccinated boosted, there are a number of people 0:26:13.760 --> 0:26:18.480 who have contracted it now who have either had no 0:26:18.560 --> 0:26:22.280 symptoms to mild symptoms to being knocked out for days. 0:26:22.440 --> 0:26:25.240 And these are people again that are vaccinated and boosted. 0:26:25.600 --> 0:26:28.280 So are we just at the stage of this where 0:26:28.640 --> 0:26:31.760 it's inevitable that this is going that this is going 0:26:31.800 --> 0:26:35.879 to continue to mutate, Which you say that it mutates, 0:26:36.040 --> 0:26:41.520 it's mutating every second, every moment, and that that's just 0:26:41.800 --> 0:26:45.119 what we're going to be living with. Well, I certainly 0:26:45.119 --> 0:26:47.120 think you're right. I mean, the devirus is always competing 0:26:47.160 --> 0:26:52.520 with itself for which can spread faster. We're above Measles 0:26:52.600 --> 0:26:56.320 territory right now, and so whatever wants to beat out 0:26:56.640 --> 0:26:59.440 the big oh as I call it, is going to 0:26:59.680 --> 0:27:02.359 have to get you through your text message or your 0:27:02.680 --> 0:27:05.760 email or something, because this thing is just in the air. 0:27:06.080 --> 0:27:09.280 And so part of the issue is You're absolutely right, 0:27:09.280 --> 0:27:12.439 it is spreading much faster. But I cannot say this 0:27:12.520 --> 0:27:14.680 strongly enough and we've been talking about this for a while. 0:27:15.600 --> 0:27:18.479 Don't get the virus right now, even though it's an 0:27:18.600 --> 0:27:21.679 inevitable even if it feels like everybody is getting it 0:27:21.720 --> 0:27:24.800 around you. It's so important right now. And I'll tell 0:27:24.840 --> 0:27:27.639 you why that is now. You can't help it right 0:27:27.680 --> 0:27:31.920 I mean, I'm doing outdoor dining tonight, and I don't 0:27:31.920 --> 0:27:35.320 know with omicron, like what how does it spread outside? 0:27:35.359 --> 0:27:39.160 We don't know that yet. I have to go down 0:27:39.200 --> 0:27:43.320 and get my mail. Like every everyday risk becomes every 0:27:43.359 --> 0:27:45.879 day becomes a risk, and so it's always a calculus. 0:27:45.880 --> 0:27:47.679 But I can say that that is not a reason 0:27:47.800 --> 0:27:50.160 right now to let your guard down. And I say 0:27:50.200 --> 0:27:53.200 that for a couple of reasons. Number one is that 0:27:53.240 --> 0:27:56.480 even if people's symptoms are mild, now, we don't know 0:27:56.760 --> 0:27:59.720 what oh micron does for long COVID. And that's the issue, 0:27:59.800 --> 0:28:04.120 right This virus lives in your body like shingles or 0:28:04.160 --> 0:28:06.520 some other stuff. You know, it lives in your body, 0:28:06.920 --> 0:28:09.520 and so we don't know what the long term effects are. 0:28:09.560 --> 0:28:11.919 Even if it's mild, it could still have long term effects. 0:28:11.960 --> 0:28:14.359 And so you don't want a virus living in your body. 0:28:14.680 --> 0:28:18.720 That's number one, So keep masking, keep doing all the stuff. 0:28:19.320 --> 0:28:24.040 Number two is number two is like, right now is 0:28:24.080 --> 0:28:26.520 a bad time to get sick, because honestly, everybody's getting sick. 0:28:26.640 --> 0:28:30.840