As if there was no tomorrow...

As if there was no tomorrow

We are just at the beginning of the Corona-Crisis in Germany. Some regions in Italy and Austria have been put under quarantine, a lot of countries worldwide have already closed their borders. Today there were slightly more than 3000 infections and 5 death cases reported for Germany. One week ago there were only approx 650 infections, the figures are increasing rapidly. Today most German states announced closing of kids-care and schools from Monday.

Last week Thursday I started to prepare myself for a 2-3 weeks quarantine or even an infection. When I was in the supermarket I was able to buy disinfection spray, shelves with some very basic food (like pasta) were almost empty.

During the week I bought medication for self treatment of a mild infection, the pharmacy had even hand sanitizer on stock. 

Today, Friday evening, I was in the supermarket again. This is my usual time for grocery shopping, but today I felt like a typical Saturday: so many people with full carts. The place where usually toilet tissue is placed was completely empty, some other shelves too. I noticed the cheapest items were sold out, but my usual vegan or lactosis free food, which is usually slightly more expensive, was still on stock. Some people behaved like there was no tomorrow, they were nervously rushing from one shelf to the next, just to grab the last remaining items, but it looked like the crowd was buying all the same: Tomato sauce, cheap pasta, rice, cheap tinned food, non-perishable milk and other food,... I was able to get all my usual items.

The situation is kind of surreal, it was a very nice, sunny spring day, a day like made to be full of expectation of a wonderful weekend somewhere in the nature. But instead preparing for the weekend everyone is expecting the Corona infections and impact on usual life. People trying to prepare themselves and their families, organizing their work from home and kids care, cancelling booked trips, independent if it‘s business or private and at work they are implementing Business Continuity Plans. Everyone prepares for the things to come, but nobody really knows how to prepare, for what scenario. A lot of serious information is distributed, some fake news, jokes, updates,... Left more or less alone many people simply follow the crowd.

I remembered the situation in Germany after explosion of the Chernobyl atomic reactor in 1986, when I was 21 - nobody knew what happened, a lot of rumors, a lot of advise how to behave, what to eat, but no clear instruction. That’s what’s happening again these days where the whole world faces a crisis. 

On the other hand we are way better prepared, information flow is tremendously better, governments can reach out to the people within seconds, you can check with relatives and friends living in other countries and even other continents without delay. Everyone can stay in close contact and is able to exchange information, news, jokes and rumors. Governments can learn from mistakes of others (like we are just learning from China and Italy), scientific studies about the desease are published immediately, statistics are available and can be analyzed - a dream compared to old times 34 years ago, when news were printed the next day in the newspaper and remote contact was only available via landline phones within the country, international and intercontinental calls were way to expensive for common people. 

Thinking about the influenca pandemy 100 years ago, the so called „Spanish Flu“ the situation was even way worse then.

What I also noticed today was, the unusual situation iniates people to communicate, to ask how the family members are, wishing health to foreigners. Strangers start to communicate! 

The crash of the stock market, the shock and the strong decisions taken by the governments are also a signal: there is no eternal growth, a never-ending party, increasing well-being and happiness for more and more people: there are limits, natural boundaries, which are suddenly cut back the alleged omnipotence of humans. These days out of the sudden require different skills: creativity, decisiveness, clear communication and leadership. Maybe a chance for humankind to learn and grow.