The trip was almost canceled. My 87-year young Dad called and
said they were locking down Southern California. He strongly suggested if we
had not already purchased the tickets, not to come and visit. I had already
bought the tickets and my wife and I were determined to take that trip as long
as we and he were healthy, the airports were open and the planes were flying.
The experts, leaders, and authorities warned the Wuhan virus was
ascending. Public officials deemed we were taking our lives into our hands by
flying on an airplane just to visit family. We would be endangering older
members of our family or those with compromised immune systems by being out in
public and potentially carrying the dreaded disease. Only essential workers
should fly they said. But who should decide who is essential?
Of course, our military personnel is essential to protect our
country. Of course, our police, to protect us from criminals, are essential. Of
course, the courts are essential to adjudicating our differences. Of course, medical personnel and their support staff are essential during a pandemic. Yet,
none of these essential jobs can function unless the other “essentials” are working.
The small businesses that are the very essence of our economy; the restaurants
and Mom and Pop stores that are the economic engine that allows for-profit and
prosperity for the other essentials to function. They are as essential, if not
more so than any government worker or bureaucrat.
My wife and I weighed the risks. After all, we are healthy,
feeling good and so were our relatives. We read scientific reports, listened to
friends who had experienced the virus first-hand, and with this information we
made the decision to live our lives fully rather to live in fear. We understood
the threat and the potential situation to our health as being serious. We made
our choice. We took the trip.
On the day of our departure, the airports were open. The TSA, the
traffic controllers, the pilots, flight attendants, and all airport personnel
were working. Airport restaurants were serving food and drinks and gift stores
were open. Construction crews were inside the building still working on the
Great Hall of the airport, many years behind schedule and millions of dollars
over budget. Are these workers any more essential than a Mom and Pop store, a
restaurant or any small business?
It reminded me of the problem-solving grid created by Milton
Freedman who suggested one should look at public policy issues from the stand
point of Who Pays, Who Benefits, Who Decides,
and What’s Fair?
The airport and the plane were mostly empty. Fifty passengers on
an aircraft that could hold 170. The flight was smooth, fast, and enjoyable as I
read an engaging book. We landed before you knew it. Los Angeles International
was under a major construction project. Amazing that these construction jobs
were deemed essential and government money seemed to be fueling their pace. We
were the only ones on the rental car bus which whisked us to our car. Our first
stop was to visit my Dad who lives ninety minutes south of L.A. We made the
trip at the height of rush hour traffic in a ridiculously fast time and we were
at his front doorstep in an hour and a half. Maybe they did find a solution to
LA’s traffic problem; scare the populous into their homes.
The street where my Dad lives was packed with cars in this
beachside community. A party was in high gear next door to him with a jazz
combo playing swinging music and people enjoying themselves in sequestered
Southern California. Was this civil disobedience? Was the local populace
through putting up with their hypocritical overseers? It appeared so.
My Dad greeted us with hugs and kisses and told us to remove our masks.
We did. He has had very little person to person contact for the last ten months
since we were all told, “15 days to flatten the curve.” The populous obeyed and
yet the edicts of lockdowns still came in thirty-day increments. As a healthy
octogenarian, my Dad is in great physical shape and has a positive mental
attitude. The music next door filled the air and was a wonderful background
noise for the delicious dinner my Dad prepared of mouth-watering steak, baked
potatoes, salad and the several bottles of local wine which may or may not have
all been consumed. We laughed, talked, and discussed of our missing each other
for almost a year and what was happening in our lives and in the world until
we were too tired to continue.
The next day, we helped my Dad clean his place, did yard work,
talked, and laughed some more. My Dad needed a new microwave. The store where we
purchased the appliance was packed with people rear-end to elbow buying gifts
for Christmas. Yet, the local restaurant we wanted to go to was open for
take-out or delivery only, with no in-house dining. This is the lunacy of
government picking winners and losers. We decided to order dinner from the local
sushi restaurant, light the Hanukkah candles, and had a delivery service risk
their life by picking up and dropping off the food in a timely manner.
The next day we drove back up to Los Angeles to visit more family
from afar or in close proximity depending on their comfort level or medical
situation. It was a great visit and we all survived. No one caught the
Communist Chinese Party Virus. The best part of this trip besides visiting
family was the airports and roads were mostly empty. Travel was a breeze. The
reason for sharing this story is simply this. You can be an obedient sheep
corralled in the “safety” of your home, waiting for the day when your overlords
tell you it is OK to live your life. Or, you can be the shepherd of your life
and live it in the full knowledge there are consequences to one’s choices living in
freedom and taking responsibility for those decisions. We called my Dad when we
arrived back in Denver to let him know we were home. He wanted us to turn
around and come back already. Every life is indeed essential, so live it like
it is.
https://kimmonson.com/featured_articles/sheep-or-shepherd/
