Not Everything Sucks In This Pandemic
COVID-19 is bad. But there can be no rainbow without the rain.
If COVID-19 was a YouTube channel, it would be pretty darn happy right now. Imagining starting your vlogging career in December 2019 and now, 6 months into 2020 having well over 10 million subscribers? What a big hit!
Unfortunately, unlike perhaps Pewdiepie vs T.Series, no one really wants to subscribe to a global pandemic. Cause in a standard YouTube channel, however dumb it may be, the worst-case scenario is wasted time of 10 -20 mins. Not death. COVID-19 leads to death. Not a channel you want to subscribe to.
The pandemic has ruined our day to day lives to an extent never seen before by this generation. But even in these dark days, our world still moves on and creates some great news to warm our hearts
A man receives a knighthood for walking around his garden
That’s right. Screw the Olympics. You complete a few laps around your garden and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will put a shiny sword on your neck twice. I jest of course, as these were no ordinary laps, and completed by no ordinary man.
Twas the one and only Captain Sir Tom Moore, a WW2 Veteran who decide to complete laps around his garden to raise funds for the NHS Charities Together organization.
The idea was simple. The 99-year-old would be walking with his…um…walker for all the days leading up to his 100th birthday, all to raise 1000 British Pounds.
Guess what? When Tom here hit the big century, he had raised over 30 Million Pounds. From 1000 to 30,000,000. For his wonderful achievements at the ripe old age of one hundred, he was knighted on the 20th of May
The World becomes less Polluted
Ever since human’s had to stay in, Mother Earth has slowly begun healing. Animals can be spotted casually walking on the empty streets. The flora and fauna have started increasingly inhabiting urban areas.
The skies of major cities all the way from Los Angeles to Mumbai became clearer an cleaner. Asthmatic people are now celebrating like never before.
The snowy tops of the Himalayas are now more 4K HD than ever. Venice had the Rise of The Almost Transparent Canals and the Return of the Dolphin (which is fake).
In the countries under lockdown, the drop in pollutant levels in the air was staggering. Both Europe and China, where the novel coronavirus originated, so a drop in NO2 levels by almost 40%. NO2 here isn’t the nitrous which makes Vin Diesel drive rapidly for his “family”. In fact, NO2, also known as Nitrous Oxide, is a dangerous gas which causes respiratory issues. So in a weirdly convoluted way, the COVID-19 crisis is actually reducing the number of deaths every year, thanks to its impact on pollution
Protests demanding change
Racism is an issue that had been overlooked far too long by our society. Almost every country has some form of racism, directed either subtly or just good old explicitly. However, George Floyd’s needless murder at the hands of Minessota Police Cops seems to have shocked most of the world into action.
Why now though, with such forms of police brutality taken place multiple times before?
People were frustrated at being unable to live their lives thanks to the pandemic lockdown. The frustration combined with the widespread viewer count to the chilling video thanks to almost staying at home, well, that led to many people reach the boilover point and now here we are.
The best part is that while this murder took place in the United States of America, protests against systemic racism took place in other parts of the world too. All the way from Japan to South Africa, from Sweden to Brazil, people were protesting because they had had enough. They demanded change, whether it be for Black Lives Matter, government corruption, to police brutality and negativity against minorities. Some protests have led to change, others yet to make an impact.
However, the fact that humanity has awoken to the problems facing our society, apart from Pennywise asking children to play with him, and are willing to fight for it, that is a beautiful sentiment.
After all, what matters most is the first step, no?
