Sliding Down MECQ

What do you do a day before sliding down to MECQ?

I withdrew some cash, in case we’re going to be needing it and I would have a hard time getting some immediately. Then, we ate out, enjoyed a dine in experience, before the restaurants close down again. It was weird and funny because many people share with my thoughts because the first diner we went to was full packed, and the one we settled with had a vacant table, but was filled with customers nonetheless. I heard that many people rushed to Puregold to do what some people would call, “panic buying”. Come on, it’s always better to be ready for whatever deluge comes our way.

I was waiting for it. People were asking about it. Heck, even the driver of the taxicle which I rode home was asking me about it. I went through the local executive order and I felt like watching a movie and hanging on for the climax which never came, and I was still waiting for it even after the screen has gone black.

The way I understand it is that an area is placed on a more stringent community quarantine classification because there has been a significant increase of Covid-19 cases in that area, and the ultimate goal of this placement is to decrease the cases, and hopefully bring the area closer to whichever old or new normalcy they want to go to.

It’s an alert level. If you’re on M|ECQ of being fat, you get stricter with exercise and diet. If you’re on MECQ with your finances, you get stricter with spending and saving, and maybe do some moonlighting. If you’re on MECQ with your friendship, you may want to get stricter with how you talk or act around your friends to avoid offending anyone. But as it seems, we were bracing ourselves for the hot coffee to touch our lips, but instead tasted frustratingly lukewarm brown colored water. There were no details on transportation restrictions. People who are sick, have co-morbidity cases, or pregnant are asked to stay at home, which I suppose does not need to be said anymore, because that’s been pretty given for a long time now. There was discussion on restriction of face to face classes which have already been implemented for more than a year now, so it would be rather pointless to specify that. There was no clear boundaries on reporting for work. The only clear policy I got there was that dining in restaurants will not be allowed. Okay, but how about transmission among co-employees in work places? Maybe they would like to take a look on that.

It seemed to me that the order was playing it safe to avoid offending anyone or any group, perhaps avoiding putting too much restriction that would hurt some sectors, or upset the recovering economy. It’s like putting too much water or too little sugar on coffee to try to please guests who don’t like it too hot or too sweet. Then, we end up with coffee that does not taste like coffee at all anymore. So, what’s the point of making coffee in the first place? It’s like a diabetic who doesn’t want to cut on his sugar, a liver cirrhosis patient who refuses to quit drinking, a lung cancer patient who insists on smoking packs in a day. Restoration has to require some sort of significant sacrifice. It just won’t happen if we dilly-dally and dilute determination with indecision.

It seems that under our “MECQ”, anyone could get out of the house and possibly join the chain of infection, as long as he has an “essential” employment. In an interview in a TV talk show, Regine Velasquez claimed that entertainers (referring to singers, musicians, actors, stand-up comedians) should be considered as essential work force because according to her, they provide hope to people in depressing times. Okay, if she can see it that way, then the beauty salons are essential because they make people feel better about themselves in depressing times, people who work with or sell video games are essential because they provide a feeling of fun to people in these depressing times, and boutiques are essential because fashion makes people feel more confident about themselves in these depressing times. Anyone could claim that his/her job is essential because it provides them with basic needs. Then, everything would be essential, and everyone could roam around and get infected. Give us a clear definition of what essential is.

If we keep this up, we might as well slide further down to ECQ.

“Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” - Philippians 4:2