When this all started I thought the lack of live sports on TV combined with people sitting at home will have some interesting side effects. I had a flight of fancy:
What if they started showing all the Rugby World Cup matches of 2019, in the order of appearance, but to a wider audience? Football fans all over Europe, and the Americas will take an interest in watching the game for gentlemen with odd shaped balls. The Japan team will get a cult following from countries where that do not have a direct association with any other team, and besides, as the home team who does relatively well, they have all the makings of the popular wild card!
Viewers will have alliances and players will have post-dated popularity, not unlike artists who really reach peak popularity long after their art reached a peak.
Nobody will be able to pronounce the name of Pieter Labuschagne and it will become a meme – people trying to pronounce his last name. The Labuschagne challenge.
But alas… People are watching something called Tiger King, running up and down in their gardens, and doing some ridiculous challenge that involve swallowing a raw egg (because one illness isn’t enough, we need to throw salmonella in there to mix things up.) People post motivational posts about learning new things. Other post motivational posts about feeling OK about not learning anything new. Some people say they will get fat. Some people say its OK to get fat. Some people are working out at home like they never used to work out in a gym. Some people are running up and down in their gardens until their dogs give up and takes a nap.
All I know is, this is a hard time. Everyone is doing what they can to cope with circumstances we could not even begin to imagine if someone from the future told us this straight in our faces. Even if we have it better than some others, that doesn’t negate the fact that some days are just hard.
I am thankful that I have a lovely apartment that has sunny spots in different times during the day. I am thankful for my pot plants and my hobbies and reading books and the wonder of the internet and video calls. I am thankful for music, the eternal medicine of the mind.
Be kind. Stay safe.
mcharlottesmith 