David J. Danto

Business travel thoughts in my own, personal opinion

eMail: ddanto@IMCCA.org Follow Industry News: @NJDavidD

What If For Frequent Travelers

There is a relatively new program on the Disney+ streaming service called “What If.” According to Wikipedia, “The series explores alternate timelines in the multiverse that show what would happen if major moments from the MCU films occurred differently.” That premise got me thinking this past week about a number of What Ifs in our current situation, covering the past and the future.

What If Fox News and the other fascist, far-right news services didn’t exist, and didn’t turn people against things that actually helped them? Well, our political landscape would be far different of course, but in the context of the pandemic that we’re STILL living through we might have all locked-down back in March-April 2020, and been mostly clear of this Pandemic now, instead of still in the heart of it. By the end of 2020 we would have been able to look past the worst of it, and we wouldn’t be closing-in on seven-hundred-thousand Americans dead. It would surely be a better world.

What If this isn’t a “pandemic” anymore and has actually turned the corner to being an “endemic” problem? This would mean all of us would be continuing to try to stay alive in a world where COVID-19 and its endless variants never completely go away. Masks would become a reality of our culture, many businesses will simply give-up and close down, and the cultural battles between intelligent people and COVIDiots would become the modern version of the Hatfields vs. the McCoys. In case you haven’t heard, Moderna is already working on a COVID vaccine that is combined with the annual flu-shot, so this is not such a far-fetched concept. I find it exceedingly depressing that this is where we may be headed – with mankind’s science and wisdom telling us specifically what the right thing to do is, yet finding ourselves living amongst thousands of people too stupid to follow the necessary life-saving advice.

What If this is actually the proverbial “act of god?” We have lived with conservative pundits and preachers telling us all of the diseases sent to the world are an act of a higher power taking his vengeance against sinners. What does that say about COVID-19? So far at least seven of the most well-known conservative, anti-mask, anti-vaxx radio personalities have been killed by COVID-19. Dick Farrel, Phil Valentine, Bob Enyart, and Marc Bernier, as well as former CIA officer Robert David Steele, anti-masker Caleb Wallace, and conservative leader Pressley Stutts have all fallen to the virus they called a hoax. I take no joy in the death of others – even COVIDiots – but this is clearly a trend. The pandemic has moved into a phase where the most ideologically and scientific stupid amongst us are being taken in far higher numbers than others. It reminds me of a quote from Winston Churchill: “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”

What If proof of COVID vaccination becomes a staple of doing anything public in our society? This one is not so far-fetched. Already major cities like New York are requiring proof of vaccination to eat in a restaurant or go to a gym. Broadway Theaters reopened this week, and all require ID, proof of vaccination and mask-wearing. Canada has already announced that all airline and ship passengers will need to be vaccinated before they are permitted to travel. I can envision holographic “I’m vaxxed” stickers that are too hard to counterfeit (like those that used to be common on credit cards) being issued to individuals – stuck on their “Real-ID” – when they receive their COVID vaccination. If one’s ID doesn’t have this sticker then that person would be refused admission to anything, including restaurants, stadiums and getting past the TSA to board an aircraft. This may not be the world we wanted, but it may be the world the COVIDiots have forced us to live in.

Restating what I posted last week, the simple fact that COVID is still around won’t stop me from traveling for pleasure or business. What WILL stop me – and probably my most important advice– is if the place I am traveling to is so overwhelmed by COVIDidots using-up all the hospital beds that they can’t provide effective emergency care. That’s a risk I won’t take. That seems to be the only critical deal-breaker in all of my travel planning. I won’t risk my life in areas where emergency care is compromised. If an unexpected appendicitis…or just breaking a bone tripping in the jetway will subject you to futile hours of looking for an available emergency room at your destination, then IMHO you shouldn’t be traveling there. That’s a risk no one should be willing to take. Check the hospital capacity before you decide to travel anywhere.

This article was written by David Danto and contains solely his own, personal opinions.

All image and links provided above as reference under prevailing fair use statutes.

++++++++

As always, feel free to write and comment, question or disagree. Hearing from the traveling community is always a highlight for me. Thanks!