Our Crises Cooldown
On September 12, 2024, I wrote a column about the two NASA astronauts stuck in space after their Boeing ship experienced some malfunctions and was deemed unsafe for the return journey home. Well, the column was really about my shock at the lack of attention the story was getting. I just could not comprehend why this story failed to grasp people’s attention. In my opinion, it had all the makings of a future Hollywood movie: astronauts trapped, a rescue mission, and the vast unknown of space. While the apathy of the masses still puzzles me, I do think that I have finally gotten to the bottom of it all … and the planned rescue of these astronauts could not have come at a better time.
Does anyone remember what happened five years ago at right about this time of year? Many probably don’t — we’ve tried very hard to block out the memories of this particular time of our lives. Five years ago, the world shut down because of the COVID pandemic. Just after the Rockaway St. Patrick’s Day parade, we started to see the domino effect occur. The Big East Tournament was canceled (… at halftime! As St. John’s had a lead over Creighton. Ironically, it was the same matchup in this year’s Big East Tournament final, and we all know how that ended. But I severely digress.), New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day parade was canceled, and then the entire NCAA Basketball Tournament was canceled. None of these were small fries that could be canceled on a whim. These are nationwide institutions. We were hit even harder in countless other ways on a much more individual level. My sister’s wedding, for example, was axed just a few weeks later. The list could go on and on with tragedy after tragedy. The entire world was put on hold with no end in sight.
And what did we do? We watched press conferences every single day. From Trump to Cuomo to Fauci and Birx — we watched hours of live updates that told us, in retrospect, squat. Flatten the curve, wear a mask, six feet of social distancing — I can’t help but scoff and laugh now as I write it. Five years ago, the world changed right in front of our eyes.
I’ve come to the conclusion that we don’t have the bandwidth for any more crises. Five years ago, we went through something that could only possibly happen once in a generation — the populace just would not stand for it happening again. People’s faith in institutions was shattered, and it is going to take time for that to be rebuilt.
Well, this past week, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams boarded a newly arrived SpaceX ship. After a 17-hour flight, they splashed down back on our little blue marble after nine months in space. There were breaking news segments and live streams of the landing. As the whole ordeal came to a close, people finally seemed like they cared … kind of. I think it was the happy ending of it all. Some closure. Welcome home, Butch and Suni.
The pandemic never gave us that kind of closure. In my mind, it sort of just slowly dissipated until everyone stopped following “the rules,” and everyone stopped enforcing “the rules.” I know it’s been five years, but in my mind, it feels like it was both 20 years ago and yesterday. Regardless, I’m just damn glad it’s not today.
