We need to end a crisis from the start

Dear Editor,

What’s up, Bro? Or is it “Bruh”? I read that Bruh is an alternative version of Bro. What is the reason for Bruh if we already have Bro? What must women think about all this self-indulgent masculine wordiness? Thank goodness they know better.

Then again, I’m reminded to include “gurls”, and “grrrls.” Maybe this trend isn’t as gender specific as I thought.

It doesn’t stop there. Lazy people are now “quiet quitters” and managers who practice “Quiet firing” are your-favorite-obscenity. Your employer’s reputation is now its “brand”. If we’re honest, a company’s brand, or reputation never was what customers think about the company. It’s what the company thinks the customers think about the company.

Now, we have “revenge travel” for people weary after almost three years of Covid-19 safety measures.

Three years? Guess again. In April 2020, presidential advisor Jared Kushner predicted that the economy would be “rockin’ by July”. Maybe he was referring to the funeral business. Also that April, you may recall the White House suggesting a possible Covid cure to then Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx involving disinfectant injection. Her dignified but bewildered expression was priceless. I hadn’t seen that look since my fourth-grade teacher tried to teach me long division.

On Memorial Day weekend 2020, a mere two months after the Pandemic began, partiers filled a swimming pool in the Ozarks. A September White House Rose Garden event saw almost 12 people including President and Melania Trump infected with Covid. A Maine wedding left eight people dead and 270 infected.

We started revenge traveling almost before the virus became a nuisance. No one asked us to ration gas for our SUVs, eat less chocolate, or plant a victory garden. We were urged to wear a facemask and social distance to fight an illness that has killed over one-million Americans.

What we need is the will to end a crisis from the start, not another silly term to describe it.

Jim Newton