Overheard, in a basement in Delaware, April 25, AD 2021:
“Good evening, sir! Ready for soup?”
“Oh, certainly. What do we have tonight?”
“Swedish Meatball Soup, sir!”
“Oh? Neat. What’s in it?”
“Swedish meatballs, sir.”
“What else?”
“Soup, I guess.”
“No, didn’t she tell you the other ingredients?”
“I’m not a cook, sir. The only reason I remember the meatballs is that they’re in the name, sir.”
“Oh.”
“So here you go, sir… soup, crackers, napkins, spoon.”
“Uh, there are meatballs in here.”
“Yes sir, there are.”
“Hmm.. Well, I might not be able to cut those with a spoon. Could you get me a knife?”
“Actually, sir, the cook said I’m not allowed to give you a knife, sir.”
“Why not?”
“Umm…. this is really uncomfortable, sir, but, uh, she said if you asked why, I should just say that you know why, sir.”
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry, sir.”
“Oh.”
“I’m sure you can cut them with a spoon, sir. If you need me to, sir, I could take the tray back upstairs and cut them upstairs, sir…”
“No, don’t bother.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“All the news stories this week have involved knives, and, well… it kind of got me in the mood for getting a knife myself…”
“Good heavens, sir!”
“You know, I always had a knife with my dinner when I was growing up in Scranton. I’m from Scranton. Did you know that?”
“No, sir, I’m not sure I did, sir.”
“Well, growing up in Scranton, nobody ever refused to give a guy a knife and fork.”
“Well, I’m sure it’s for your own safety, sir.”
“I don’t ask for a fork, you know.”
“Oh.”
“They’re just no good with those big corks on them.”
“Oh the forks, sir?”
“Yes.”
“Sir, umm, why on earth… uhh, for your own safety, again, sir?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“So, I was wondering, sir… the Swedish Meatballs reminded me of something, sir.”
“What?”
“Well, sir, there’s something else that we’ve all been doing ‘for our own safety,’ sir… it’s about the virus, sir.”
“What virus? There’s another virus?”
“No, sir, no, I’m referring to the one from last year, sir. The China Virus, sir. Covid-19, sir. The one from Wuhan.”
“Oh. that’s a relief. I thought you meant there was a new one…”
“No, sir. The one from Wuhan is bad enough, sir.”
“I should say so!”
“So, here’s the thing, sir. Sweden never mandated lockdowns, sir…”
“Bunch of damned fools. Denying the virus…”
“They didn’t deny the virus, sir, they just didn’t think closing down their economy was the thing to do, sir.”
“Shameful, isn’t it, how an elected government could go and kill their own people like that….”
“Um, sir…”
“Shows the flaws in the election process, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t let people who’d kill their own population win an election in the first place…”
“Umm, sir, they didn’t kill their own population, sir.”
“Didn’t lock it down.”
“Well, that’s right, but people could certainly choose to stay home, or social distance, or whatever… lots of Swedish businesses did scale down for safety, and to calm people who were worried, sir.”
“And what did they get for it? People died!”
“Well, sure, sir… but proportionately, not as many as countries that did the full lockdowns, sir.”
“Terrible of them, denying the existence of the virus…”
“Sir, nobody’s denying the existence of the virus. They’re saying that they don’t believe lockdowns were the right approach, sir, that’s all…”
“They’re in denial.”
“Sir, almost the whole world simultaneously jumped into lockdowns, and mask mandates, and these six foot social distancing rules, and these new differentiations between essential and non-essential businesses, almost immediately, sir. Without any evidence, without any science, without any debate, sir.”
“Are you a denier too, kid?”
“Good heavens, no, sir! I know there’s a virus. Everybody knows there’s a virus, sir. but, it’s just so weird, that practically everybody but Sweden just agreed immediately on this lockdown thing, you know? Almost as if there was this one big zoom call and all the bosses agreed to bypass their legislatures and just all do the same thing at once. It’s so weird, sir.”
“Come on, man! Denying the virus won’t make it go away! Denying the virus won’t protect you and your family from it!”
“I’m not denying the virus, sir. It’s there, it’s everywhere, and it’s really bad for a really small percentage of really unlucky people, sir. I know that, sir. Everybody knows that, sir.”
“Well then why are you denying its existence?”
“I’m NOT, sir. I’m just mentioning how Sweden didn’t kill its economy, didn’t force everybody to change their lives, left it up to their people and their businesses to decide, and so sure, some of them got sick, and some of them died, but… not more than in the countries that went the lockdown route, you know? In fact, they did better than most who did, sir.”
“Why are you denying the virus?”
“I’m not, sir.”
“You need to get with the program. Stop denying what’s all around you.”
“Sir, I’m not denying anything, I’m just asking why practically all the countries in the world came up with the same approach, simultaneously… it sure seems weird… and why none of them want to talk about the results in what is for all intents and purposes, the control group, sir.”
“Come on, man! Stop living in denial!”
“I’m not, sir… I’m just asking a question, sir.”
“Well stop! Some questions just shouldn’t be asked.”
“Why not, sir?”
“Because if we don’t know the answer, we’re better off not being asked at all.”
“Oh my, sir.”
“Troublesome questions are… uh… troublesome. They’re more dangerous than you realize. Part of controlling the message is controlling the questions.”
“Oh my. I see , sir.”
“You can go now. Leave me alone. I have a press conference to prepare for.”
…end of transmission…
copyright 2021 John F Di Leo
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