Posted in: Global Culture
Published on Dec 30, 2020 by Phyllis Chesler
Published by Israel National News
A drive around Manhattan
This will be a long, dark winter in America, one that will test our well being, even our sanity. Op-ed.
Last night I took a tour by car
around the fabled city of Manhattan. Despite the surge, the lockdown, and the
cold weather, festive lights were everywhere; the Central Park zoo became a
magical castle outlined in neon green; the buildings near Central Park South
were shining in orange. A long line of cars were waiting to see the famous
decorated Tree in Rockefeller Center.
And yet—every beloved movie
theater, Broadway, the Opera House, all remain shuttered and dark. Many
favorite restaurants have gone out of business, have a limited take-out only
menu, or are closed for the duration, maybe forever. The American-style cafe on
my corner no longer seems to have heaters. Other restaurants do.
Young people huddle together
along Central Park South, dealing drugs, listening to what I call “noise” as if
it were music. Some are masked, some are not.
This will be a long, dark winter
in America, one that will test our well being, even our sanity. We are like
prisoners, mistrustful of neighbors and strangers. Yesterday a woman in my
building nearly freaked out when she thought I would dare to join her in the
elevator. Those who are traveling for family holidays are risking their lives
to do so, as well as the lives of others.
New York City children have
lost their regular lives—no classroom structure, peer groups, friendships, or
regular learning. What will this mean for them in the long run?
A redemptive perspective:
Imagine if we’d all been alive during the Spanish Influenza. No internet, no
television, no telephone, probably very few telegrams. We would not know who
had lived or died, we’d have absolutely no contact with friends and loved ones,
and we’d have only our own company in silence and solitude and that of those
who already lived with us.
We are lucky in history. We can
Zoom friends and families. But oh, how weary I am of two-dimensional intimacy,
no touching, no hugging, no kissing of adult children or of grandchildren...May
we all stay safe, stay strong, and stay sane.
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