I rode my bike the other day, exercising my body — and exercising caution, because of COVID.
Heading uphill, I was huffing and puffing more than usual, because of two face masks I was wearing. I had on a cloth mask with a filter inside, and another mask, under that, like the masks health care workers wear. I doubled up, not only for added protection, but also because the second mask kept the first one from slipping down my face. When I’m bike riding, keeping everything in place keeps me focused on traffic, pedestrians, and such.
But as it turned out, there wasn’t all that much to focus on. Only a couple of cars were passing by. The buildings and parking lots, along both sides of the street, were mostly empty. I was riding through a ghost town of commercial office complexes, that, pre-pandemic, would have been teeming with people.
It was eerie, but there may be light at the end of the tunnel, with precautions, like wearing face masks, already in place… and with vaccines on the way, that may help, as well.
Among the few people along the route who were biking, jogging and just strolling, most were wearing masks. Only a few were not.
For some reason, as I was peddling around the ghost town, I started thinking about current events.
I was thinking about something, in the news, that the current secretary of state, and other officials in federal government, had gone on ‘farewell tours’ — or, perhaps, junkets? — traveling around Europe and elsewhere, wining and dining with foreign dignitaries in the waning days of the Trump presidency. I’ll bet those trips cost — the taxpayers? — a pretty penny!
I’m also betting that people who, normally, would have been working in the commercial office buildings, I was biking by, were working from home. And if they needed to meet with people in other states and countries, they were meeting, remotely, via webinar, rather than traveling, during the pandemic.
I was thinking about a peaceful transition of power, on January 20. Hoping for that, for the sake of the nation.
I was thinking about something I’d heard someone, on TV, say about democracy. About having to squeeze democracy back in the toothpaste tube — I think those were the words — to preserve democracy, once we’re past the chaos of the past several years.
We’ll get there, I was thinking, with some optimism, empathy and…
My leg muscles eased up. I was picking up speed, heading uphill, breathing more easily. I wasn’t huffing and puffing quite so much.
Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.