Finding the good in the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic

 When bad things happen, we should try to find some goodness in the situation and make the best of it.That's what Mama and Daddy always said. So did my Grandmas and Grandpas. So did the preacher at church.

But, honestly, when COVID-19 happened a couple of years ago, finding the positive angle was difficult.

Believe it or not, I did, find a positive side.

At the time, I worked for a major home improvement store chain. I loved the job, I loved the two stores I worked at during the 15 years of employment, and I loved the people I worked with. It was a great company, and I reckon it still is.

Well, with the way The Government and The Science reacted to COVID-19, businesses had little choice but to follow along with the panic. Although we were never forced to choose between the vaccine and employment, we were required to mask up. The store provided the team I was a part of--merchandising service, which stocked shelves and put up displays and helped customers by finding them a sales associate--with something called gaiters or gaters or gators--I never bothered to find out exactly what the real name and spelling was.

This protection was just a long cloth tube, so to speak, that I pulled over my head and used to cover my nose and mouth and chin. It was hot and a pain in the face. But I quickly discovered a benefit.

I really enjoy listening to the radio--music or talk, I don't care which--and I like to listen to podcasts, too.

Well, in no time at all, I discovered that by wearing the gaiter/gater/gator over my ears, I could leave my Bluetooth earphones in my ears and no one would notice. If someone said something to me and I didn't respond, they didn't figure it was because I was listening to the forbidden radio, but rather I was hard of hearing because I am advanced in years.

So, I spent all those months of COVID-19 happy as a lark, listening to music, news, talk, historical podcasts, whatever I wanted. In the photograph that accompanies this brief essay, I am grinning from ear to ear. For the record, I did not usually wear the protective goggles; that was just a way to be quietly sarcastic about the overreaction to what was really just a strain of flu.

So, the lesson from this sermon is: When faced with something you don't like but are powerless to change, find something positive and use it for your own edification.