The recent coronavirus outbreak in China (and now 7 know cases in America) has eerie resemblances to the movie "Contagion" starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, etc., where the origin of the disease is from a wild bat in China that infects Paltrow, who carries it on a plane back to the U.S., where it infects others as the disease becomes transmitted. So far the coronavirus hasn't been declared a global health epidemic by the World Trade Organization, but the CDC is actively involved and the infected rate/death toll is a daily report now on the news, a sure sign that this disease has indeed become a global story. I've now also seen firsthand how various threats can impact world markets (especially the stock market), and this is the first epidemic I've lived through, adding to the possible market killers like trade war, raising interest rates, rising unemployment, election results (whether a certain President or political party comes to power), military conflict, etc., etc. So far the epidemic has been contained mainly in Wuhan, China, and all Chinese people wear protective face masks, even in the U.S., and especially at airports or places with large populations of people. I haven't been affected on a personal level yet as my daily life is still the same as before (still go to work, still go outside, my parents and I went to a Chinese restaurant today and it was still quite busy), but I have seen some negative attitudes about Chinese people along with Trump's travel ban restricting incoming visitors from other countries, and some rumblings about xenophobia and fear of meeting Chinese people.
Through this coronavirus episode, I've seen various insensitive posts about Chinese people on the internet........and unfortunately those get retweeted/reposted on some Facebook friends' pages, depicting various negative aspects about China, like "mail order brides in China now 25% off," or a fighter who will soon fight a Chinese MMA fighter posting a picture of herself with a gas mask on. All of these things are insensitive material that make light of a very serious situation in China where more and more people die everything......so joking about it is not the best timing, but as a society we lose some of the ideas of decency based on what we see on the internet, and what people are drawn to. It's disturbing that to draw attention to oneself, some people use a disease/ natural disaster that is causing pain and suffering to thousands and has already killed more than 100. Even joking about the "coronavirus" sounding like the beer Corona is a bit over the line, but some of the jokes have a racial edge to them, which would not be acceptable for making fun of certain races in America.......but apparently making fun of the Chinese is not looked as down upon. I'm not sure if that's reflective of how Chinese Americans police the internet or speak out about racial injustice, but there definitely does seem to be a prejudice especially now that the U.S. was engaged in a trade war with China and there's a type of intellectual warfare going on with Chinese spies being arrested in America, and the race to build the most advanced technology possible to become the leader of the world in the next few decades.
The insensitive posts also remind me that I have to be choosy about the friends we make. As a nerdy kid in high school who no one wanted to talk to, I was pretty desperate and would take any friends that would have me; the feeling of acceptance trumped my discretion. I still find in the adult world that life is very similar to high school and people still are drawn to the more popular, better-looking people, but at least my friend possibilities are so large that I can just move on to the next candidates and choose new friends. I am pretty accepting of differences and diverging opinions on some topics, but some big no-no's are taking me for granted, ditching me to go talk to cooler people, and doing things like posting racist jokes and memes on social media. MJ is already very good about discerning which friends she likes to keep in touch with and maintain, and it's not a long list......which as adults, it probably shouldn't be. More and more I realize that we don't have enough time to be friends with too many people and it's not practical to be spread so thin, only maintaining surface relationships with people and meeting once a year or less. People I thought were friends sometimes change and become someone I do not respect, or over time of hanging out with them I realize they were always like that and shouldn't have been friends with in the first place. It's nothing personal, but just because I share a few interests with someone and can carry on a 10-minute conversation with does not mean I should be friends with them for life. It takes a while for these decisions to be made, but 7 years is a good gauge of whether you'll be friends with someone for life........hopefully less for a marriage partner!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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