Outbreak

Suspicious that a virulent plague was able to slip through our sterile defences, and put the whole freakin' world on lockdown, just out of the blue, suddenly, just like that.

Also strange that a resilient vaccine was effectively produced in so little time, and everything ended quite efficiently after the dullest period of postmodern existence.

I suppose that if our medical infrastructure is world renowned then it isn't surprising that a vaccine was developed so quickly, although if a virus was deadly enough to outmaneuver the infrastructure perhaps the vaccine should have taken longer to make.

So boring.

It couldn't have been more blasé.

I was lucky enough to have work and they couldn't cancel walks in the woods, but wide-ranging activities and sundry entertainments could no longer be accessed through direct application.

I was of the mindset that COVID did in fact exist and was malevolently taking on the world, and didn't think it was a hoax collaboratively designed to test drugs and obedience. 

Thus, I disagreed with the anti-vaxxers who saw themselves as freedom fighters, and thought the ways in which they were accessing their freedoms put their communities at risk.

Its origins and eventual spread around the unsuspecting globe do remain mysterious, there's no doubt it did exist, but why or how did it originate?

If it actually commenced in the East how was it able to feverishly escape, since that jurisdiction is already on lockdown with strict governmental oversight concerning everything?

It did escape, nevertheless, and was then dispersed around the globe, why weren't relevant airlines quickly shut down so the spread would obstinately decrease?

Obviously, there hadn't been a global pandemic for over a century and the Earth wasn't ready for old world demands, the interconnected interactive globe somewhat ill-suited to industrious plague.

I felt bad for the politicians who didn't know what to do, struggling to respond to questions they didn't know how to answer.

It was a great time for thoughtful inanity as so many came up with theories, the vast majority of which were incorrect, since really there was little one could do but suffer.

That's not very cheerful though and it doesn't make a very good story.

I still think the pandemic was worse than Trump.

Although things this time round are crazy bad. 

Enemy Mine

Intergalactic war brings devastation as bellicose covetous cultures clash, the freeform colonization of space demanding macroscopic invention. 

They're both after the same fertile regions and generally ill-suited to interplanetary diplomacy, consistently engaging in heated space battles to indelicately bridge the chaotic gap.

A spirited soldier from Earth is passionately incensed after his friend is obliterated, and skilfully tracks the offending aggressor into the atmosphere of a barren planet.

A sudden wayward miscalculation and both pilots soon find themselves lost and stranded, still at disputatious odds but willing to work together to facilitate survival. 

Thus, as happens so often, when the grandiose flare for jingoism fades, the courageous troops who do most of the fighting habitually find they have lots in common.

Without the speeches and the advertising and the rhetoric the manufactured hatred gives way to reason, and rival soldiers find common ground from which to build a working conzensus.

Communication remains difficult as the brave warriors seek stable shelter and food, both languages sharing no logical links they're starting from scratch with sounds and visuals.

They aren't that gifted linguistically but they quickly make up for it with determined gusto, and since they have a lot of time on their hands they're able to learn to efficiently speak.

Learning a new language in the beginning can be disheartening because there are so many new words, not a hundred or five-hundred or a thousand but several thousand to be effectively mastered.

Many of these words often have different forms so learning one is like learning two or three, and one word often has more than one meaning so you have to learn different definitions for different contexts.

Remain calm.

Don't let it get to you.

Be patient and kind.

People will help you.

And take note of your surroundings, you may encounter many people who don't read Dickens, but they can still speak solid working English and reasonably discuss multiple subjects.

Remember, if they can do so in English eventually you should be able to do the same in their language.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

Acquire new vocabulary.

Use it in conversation.