Things To Be Positive About During the Coronavirus Pandemic

These are hard times and certainly no laughing matter but, the news can't be ALL doom and gloom. I think there has been a silver lining or two in all this...

On the lighter side, I see COVID-19 caused the Streetcars to shut down. Something I've been saying should be done since they started. Maybe the city will see the money saved ... and basic irrelevance of the cars in general ... and, finally, agree they're a bad idea. (My apologies to the 15 or 20 of you directly impacted by this closure.)  We also got 3 months longer to file taxes. Now you can wait until July 15th to freak out and file for that extension.

I know. It's not really a tine to joke but, we do need to keep our senses of humor healthy too.

Seriously though, I have seen some good in all this. I read that canals and ports in Venice, closed due to the coronavirus, are once again flowing clearly while dolphins and swans have returned. I see fewer cars on the road here as I travel to work and back which means less congestion, general impatience and pollution, (Pollution levels are down worldwide since we all started shutting ourselves in) Along with, best of all, fewer accidents. (My traffic reports are almost unnecessary which, I love. I'd rather do rock news or something anyway.)

Families are getting out and exploring the area together instead of sitting in their rooms, staring at their phones and El Pasoans are really stepping up to help others. The young, looking out for the old, the rich helping the poor and a BIG push to support locally owned businesses. We should always be like this anyway, you know? We're "El Paso Strong" remember? It's a shame it took this to bring that feeling back but, it did.

Thank you virus. Now, get the hell out of here.