Broadway on the Bay
Our friend Matthew has been with us for a few days in the middle of Phillip’s whirlwind tour of all the Western upscale properties in the hotel portfolio of his new employer (a large household hotel brand that has been a part of our lives for decades and for whom Phillip plans to take sales to the moon and back). Mostly we have been showing him our very limited world of Pandemic San Diego. It has caused us to realize how little of our new city we (and more so for me) have tasted after being here full time for going on two years. We have become very familiar with every inch of our 2.5 acre hilltop and somewhat with our North County neighborhood from Home Depot to every garden center within a 20 mile radius. But I can count on one hand my visits to the lovely metropolis that people flock to and enjoy that is only 35 minutes south of us.
We have driven up and down the West Coast several times during the Pandemic and even driven 8,000 miles back and forth across the country. But the things we have not done are fly anywhere and go to events where many people are gathered. So, here we are in the face of an uncertain Delta Variant epidemic, fully vaccinated, almost ready for our booster shots, not so much worried about respirator-clad hospitalization or death by COVID, but now worried about other things. There are unvaccinated friends who cannot get past their politics. There are unvaccinated young children who are increasingly taking up hospital beds. There are vaccinated friends getting infected and worrying about long-term COVID after-effects. The concerns ebb and flow, but have not gone away by any means.
Today I heard two troubling stories. The first was about a friend and fellow investor in the last company I ran. This is a guy who bootstrapped his way up from a working class background (without college) to a very successful business career that left him with a very hefty balance sheet. Unfortunately, along the way he did not really engage his social consciousness and has drifted into what I would call a passive and somewhat self-focused Republican mindset. He is actually a person who I would call “a good soul”, but his politics have nonetheless gone to the red side of the spectrum. Somewhere along the way that has left him deciding to remain unvaccinated. I want to think this was an oversight rather than a proactive choice, but I have no way of knowing. What I do know as of today is that he contracted a severe case of COVID that landed him in the hospital and on an intubated respirator for ten days. He is now out and home on oxygen, or so I am told. I know COVID was bad to get any time and under any circumstances, but it somehow seems worse and more regrettable when it could have been avoided by the almost unthinking foresight of getting the readily available vaccinations. All I can do for him is hope for the best for him.
But then I also heard of the friend’s brother and niece who have contracted COVID despite being fully vaccinated for some time. That is especially troubling because it seems a specific warning to all of us who are altering our Pandemic-driven lifestyles focused on social distancing and masking. The uncertainty about this Delta Variant is just that, too uncertain to ignore. Tales of shortened longevity and lingering chronic symptoms and discomforts are downright scary. This is especially so for those of us who feel it’s important to be responsible citizens that care for the health of our entire community.
And for what are we taking these risks? To take yet another international motorcycle trip (Spain and Portugal are on our agenda for September and are somewhere between being horribly rampant with infection and yet perhaps getting past it….maybe)? Or perhaps to gather for favorite activities in large attraction spaces with 3,300 other people of God-knows what medical status?
That’s right, Broadway has been closed for going on two years and Kim and Matthew LOVE Broadway (and I quite like it too). So on the occasion of Matthew’s visit, we have chosen to come to the second night of the brand new Rady Bandshell on San Diego Bay (the opening was postponed for a year due to COVID). It is an outdoor attraction and we bought expensive enough tickets to not be crammed in cheek to jowl, but there are 3,300 people here plus staff. And when this Broadway on the Bay concert (which is proving to be very pleasant on a very pleasant summer evening) ends, complete with fireworks, all 3,300 of us will press our way out to get to our cars and get home at a decent hour. Anyway you slice it, this is the closest to a super-spreader event we have ever attended.
I am sitting here in the cool night air breathing into my mask, which I refuse to take off. Kim is in the same mode. Matthew, who had NYC COVID early on and is vaccinated obviously feels his antibodies are strong enough to protect him (which they well may be).
In the morning we are having a call with our friends planning on going with us to Spain in a month. This is a call they asked for. I’m betting their concern level is not falling at this point. What do you think?
None of this is taking the edge off the evening on Broadway. Right now I am listening to “I could have danced all night” from My Fair Lady. And that’s what this night feels like. We are all Pygmalion tonight. The problem is that the following song is from The Little Shop of Horrors. I am not creative enough to be making this shit up. This is what is happening here on the Bay. Hope for the best for us …. All of us, red, blue, vaccinated and unvaccinated. This is a moment of vast uncertainty for all of mankind. Be safe, be well, and try and still have fun…responsibly.