So Many Questions

Will I ever... . No, wrong question. How long will it take before I don't make that knee-jerk reaction when a good friend tells me she went to her doctor for shortness of breath and she was immediately sent to the ER? (Turns out it wasn't the virus.)

Why is it that those infinitseimal thorn tips that wedge themselves where they can't be removed can't just cause infinitesimal annoyance?

So now dogs and cats test positive for the virus. We already knew tigers caught it, and they're testing macaques with potential vaccines. It started with bats, so can it hit all mammals? Can you maintain 6 foot distances from your home critters? Would they wear masks? Can we train them not to lick our faces? And for all those who are "fostering" shelter animals to give them a home for the duration, does this mean they can't be returned? Or maybe only with testing? Who's going to test them when we can't even test all of us?

If we don't know whether having antibodies after having the virus protect us from getting it again, why do we believe giving those antibodies to others in plasma from those who've recovered can help them? Has anybody thought to research whether all those years of flu shots, while not specific for this, have boosted our immune systems enough to make those who catch it have less serious cases?

Could social distancing bring back drive-in theaters? Or just kill the group experience completely? Will the younger generations, so involved in their personal small screens all day, even care if movie theaters shut down? Or do they view them as just places these days for wild hormones to thrive in dark spaces? If they're no longer making movies, or next TV season, will we be inundated with a year or more of TV reruns?  Would anybody turn to - gasp! - reading?

Anybody remember when we were sweating over West Nile? Zika? Lyme disease? Are they no longer getting reported or does nobody even care anymore? Is the fact that they require insect vectors for transmission mean nobody these days can wrap their heads around the concept of contagion?

If wild mammals like deer could catch and transmit this virus, would that stop us hunting them? Or would poaching of all wild animals just increase with the threat of meat shortages due to meat plants infested with the virus? If there are meat shortages in stores, will nuts and beans be next as people figure out legumes and grains combine amino acids to produce complete proteins as good as meats?  Would we turn to a nation of vegetarians? No? Might we start eating things like rats? If so, might we wind up blaming them for helping spread this the same way we blame them for spreading the plague?

What's going through the heads of people who insist that the full economy be opened yesterday? Is it simple selfish need or greed? Is it a conviction of their own invulnerability, believing they are young enough and healthy so it won't hurt them, and who cares if cranky old Aunt Gert dies anyway? How many of them see the poor and black and incarcerated concentrations of cases and deaths and perceive that as a solution rather than a problem?

If Pence catches the virus, could he sue the Mayo for not hogtying him and forcing him to wear a mask like everybody else there? Were Pence's Secret Service attendants being passive aggressive in letting him go bare faced? Would anybody, even Trump, care? Or does everybody just see their duty being protecting him only from things the size of bullets? Can/will anybody out there show him how to actually put a mask on without covering his eyes so he can talk to people eye-to-eye? Can you even go eye-to-eye and still maintain social distancing, or do we need to grow long eye stalks like crabs? But then, if we're not supposed to touch our eyes with our hands, wouldn't our eye stalks also have to maintain six feet distance?

Is it obvious I'm way past my bedtime?