Page 31 - Gilbert & Me_Neat

Day Two

Friday, April 10 , 2020
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6.30am:
I get up, shave, shower and plod into the living room. It’s already hot.

It’s supposed to be Good Friday, the start of the Easter weekend. I now know how the Easter
Bunny feels – it isn’t going to end well. I know religious people will be going nuts about this,
because there’s actually nothing good at all about today: even though God’s where he’s supposed
to be, most religious people should be attending church. But they’re not. Those that can’t go to
church for other reasons, should be praying for an end to this virus, and maybes some of them
are. But many other people are home trying to relax, but they can’t. There’s nothing to relax
about: the country’s on total lockdown. God has no control over this virus and even if he did, he
shows no signs of showing remorse or mercy: one and half a million humans are now infected
and deaths continue to increase.

For many weeks, newscasters have been focusing on just three places where the outbreak is
worst – China, Italy and Iran, but now in more recent days it appears the US has overtaken all
these places and has the worst outbreak in the world. This is worrying for us here in Belize –
many of the resort owners are Americans who have retired here, having invested in hotels or
resorts, and a significant number of tourists are from the US. With the virus spreading fast, the
US has extracted all its citizens from Belize (that has effectively wiped out the tourism business
and the revenue the country needs), and imposed travel restrictions on citizens leaving the
country, and upon people trying to get into the country.

Belize has also imposed travel restrictions, and arguable that has impacted how quickly the virus
could have spread here. The US didn’t act with any real urgency and, when it did, it was
confused, haphazard and ill-thought out. As a result, the virus has ransacked that country, caught
them totally unprepared and may well result in many thousands of unnecessary deaths.
Unfortunately for the US, their useless, idol leader, who has blamed everybody, including God,
for the mess his country is in, remains totally ignorant of his responsibility. But he alone is
responsible, regardless of what he says.

I don’t blame God – I’m an atheist – I blame humanity. Why would anyone want to eat a Bat?
Seriously. There are much more tasty animals to eat than stringy, tiny, hairy Bats.

Like Easter Bunnies. Especially if they are chocolate bunnies. And Easter eggs. Love Easter
eggs. But I have to say, I still, even now, do not understand the relationship between Easter
Bunnies and Easter eggs. Plainly one does not relate to the other unless you are a twisted
advertising executive obviously, yet every time Easter comes around, cute little white Easter