Viewpoints on 2020

By Barbara Fox

A collection of articles, essays, poems and plays about how different authors are dealing/coping with the pandemic.  Barbara Fox wrote several plays on the subject  Including The Visit  (a couple is  reluctant to have company) QuickMeeton Zoom (a virtual dating service) and Mothers, Daughters, Friends (home schooling) and she invited other authors to contribute their plays, articles, and poems.  Several responded.  Stephen Olson wrote a play about a virtual office meeting, Marla Schwartz's play  is about  people affected by the virus.   Sharon Baker, Mitchell Ball and John Harpin, Natalie Cobo , Benito Perri,  Pamela O'Salem and  Greg   McDaniel  offered advice, suggestions and feelings about  everything from appreciating nature to trying new recipes to mediation, and  surviving the virus,   Mitchell Berkman contributed a rap, Venessa McCaffrey offered poetic tributes, Barry Katz's poems provided a little humor and Luis Roberto Herrera Summed it all up with "Cope.."  Viewpoints also has lots of "mimi views", short statements  like "if i'd know last March that it was the last time I would at in a esaturant, i would have ordered dessert" and "The swimming pools are open but, due to social istancing there will be no water in lanes 1,3 and 5,"  and many more that point out that,  while the pandemic is a serious problem, there is still humor in the ways people deal with it. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mystery On The Menu
• Release date: Nov 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393003007

Barbara Fox

Barbara Fox is the producer/director of Mystery On The Menu, an interactivetheate company she founded in Washington DC in 1986.  She writes, directs and acts in all of the shows.  She is the author of The Murder in The Inn series of mysteries and dozens of short plays and stories.  Barbara lives in Hollywood Florida; when she isn't writing or acting she spends her time  at the beach or pool, line dancing, the theater and going on as many cruises as possible

Book preview

ARTICLES/ESSAYS

MINI-VIEWS

~~~~~

During the middle ages they celebrated the end

of the plague with wine and orgies.

Does anyone know if there is anything planned

when this one ends?

~~~~~

Having plans sounds like a good idea

until you actually have to get out of your pajamas

and leave the house.

FAST FORWARD TO 2040

By Barbara Fox

When I was a little girl, I liked to hear my mother talk about the days when she was growing up and then, when I was Up my children liked to hear stories about my younger days. Children always like to hear stories about their parents lives so, I’ve been thinking about what mothers or grandmothers will tell children about life before 2020. Life has changed so much in the last few months, the ordinary things we did last summer seem almost unbelievable now. Would children in 2040 even believe that we used to hug and kiss friends and go to buffet restaurants and sit next to strangers in movies? I imagined myself as a grandmother in 2040 talking to my six-year-old granddaughter, I’ll call her Jenny.

We would be curled up on the sofa, the requisite six feet apart. She would say,

Tell me about when you were a little girl Grammy.

Well, I’d say, Life was very different. For one thing, when I was your age I used to sit on my mother's lap and she would hug me a lot.

What's a hug? Jenny would ask.

It's when two people put their arms around each other and sort of squeeze.

Doesn't it hurt?

No, it feels wonderful. Stand up for a minute and I'll show you.

Jenny stood perfectly still as I wrapped my arms around her and hugged. It does feel good, she said, why don't we do this all the time?

Well, I guess we could do it at home sometimes, if your mommy and daddy say it’s all right but never, ever outside. And never hug anyone else. I said. I used to hug lots of people. When I went to my dance classes everyone would hug and sometimes, we would even kiss each other.

Oooh, Jenny said, Why would you do that? How did you get around the walls anyway?

There didn't used to be plastic walls between us, I said, we would dance right next to each other; sometimes we would even hold hands and, when we met someone for the first time, we would shake hands.

You mean like this, Jenny shook her hands vigorously.

No honey, like this. I would put out my hand and the other person would put out his hand and we would sort of grab each other's hand and shake. It was a way of saying hello.

That sounds silly, Jenny said, Were you at least wearing gloves?

No gloves, I said, and I'll tell you something else, we didn't wear masks, not at all.

What did you put on your face if you didn't wear a mask?

Nothing, we didn't put anything on our faces, well, we used to put on make-up.

What's make-up?

It's like, well, like crayons, but they were for your face. We used to put red on our lips and blue or beige or green on our eyelids and black on our eyelashes and...

That sounds like fun, Jenny said. I'm going to do it; I'm going to go color my face with crayons.

"No Jenny, I told you, we didn't use crayons, We used special things called lip gloss and mascara and blush; they don’t make them anymore. We looked so pretty; I'll show you pictures someday. Jenny said she liked her masks better because they matched her shirts and they had flowers and butterflies on them. She asked me to tell her more things I used to do.

Well, we used to go to restaurants.

We go to restaurants.

I know that but see, we used to go inside and sit at tables, sometimes with other people. We would sit together. There would be four or six or even eight people at a table. and sometimes we would go to a buffet.

What's a buffet?

It's when lots of different foods are put out on a long counter or table and you go up and serve yourself, you would take whatever you wanted and as much as you wanted. You could take two or even three desserts!

You're making that up. People can't pick their own food. The serving people have to bring it to you in little boxes.

No honey, it's true and, we used to go to movies.

We go to movies.

I mean, we would go into the movie theater and sit down in seats right next to other people, people we didn't even know.

"How? I can't even sit