What we all needed as the final message of this year was a humorous look at the dreaded 2020 saga - this was provided by former District 5440 Governor and Foothills Rotary Club member, Mike Forney. Since the full entertainment value of this presentation cannot be captured by this writer in the absence of the hilarious pictures accompanying Mike’s comments, be sure to look at the video of this presentation by Clicking Here.We started with a look back at the first four months of 2020 when great expectations were rapidly replaced by harsh reality. We remember the joy of “close contact” when we viewed photos of smiling Rotarians at Purple Pins, and tight lines at ski lifts. We so looked forward to our 2020 travel plans!
March, the (first) month of “Doom and Gloom” arrived. But, no worries, the summer travel season was months away and the plague would be over? But, our travel plans crash landed - but wait, there’s always dining out with friends (as long as you don’t have too many friends and they like “camping”- ie, eating in a tent).
Alas, April brought new priorities, behaviors and way-less requirements - no bras, one change of clothes per day (nighttime and daytime pajamas), no need to shave or get a haircut, and lower car mileage with all its’ benefits. The Internet became our life, Zoom our path to socialization and meetings. But who could predict that toilet paper would be in short supply or that wearing a mask would become a political position?
Social distancing was easy or difficult depending on your lifestyle - fencing and outdoor activities flourished. Rotary adjusted with Zoom meetings and Rotary logo masks. Hand washing techniques developed as we sang “Happy Birthday” way too many times. We were homebound but somehow adjusted.
We learned more new words than most years. “Pandemic” was clearly number one but new words appeared while others acquired new meaning or prominence - impeachment, acquittal, asymptomatic, unmute, BLM, defund, superspreader, COVID-19, QAnon , PPE and Blursday!
But, there is “light at the end of the tunnel” – 2021 is just a few days away!
Mike ended his presentation with a hilarious cartoon video featuring a doctor and his patient illustrating the potential not-so-easy. path that will undoubtedly be truth for some of us as we try to get our shots for what should be the beginning of the end of this mess.