Hi, how are you?

No, really. How are YOU? Hope you’re holding up well. I hope that your physical condition is fit as a fiddle. I hope that your mental health is just as good, you’re not climbing on the walls, that you’re not silently going mad.

I wish each one of you the very best in this so-called new normal. Manila is currently on Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine. Next week, we’re transitioning into General Community Quarantine. And the thought of that…well, it can cause an anxiety attack for some. (I know it’s going to cause me an anxiety attack, for sure.)

I think businesses, offices are open not because it’s safe now–it’s because something needs to be done to the economy before it collapses. We all need to do something about that. But what if we catch something? What if we come into contact with someone who is asymptomatic? What if…

I have realised that we can’t borrow trouble. But yes, the need for caution is there and it will stay. WE ALL NEED TO BE EXTRA CAREFUL NOW. I can quite imagine how people coped during the Spanish flu pandemic a hundred and two years ago now. Masks, no handshakes, less personal contact, and washing of hands. None of those fake remedies (I’m looking at you, DJT). I understand that the COVID pandemic is a different ballgame now–but there are still parallels.

And in other news, a man named George Floyd was killed by a cop. A white cop. In America.

Yep, another race-related crime. In America. Not surprising anymore, huh? That has become the *new normal* since DJT started working as the 45th President of the United States of America. And when I say working–well, not really. Hardly working, just playing golf. Well, fine, mostly.

‘Murica, this has got to stop. So, what happened exactly? A police officer used his knee on Mr Floyd’s neck to pin him on the ground. Mr Floyd was unarmed and handcuffed.

Why was Mr Floyd arrested, anyway? Simply because he paid for groceries using a counterfeit $20 bill. But seriously? Pin Mr Floyd’s neck down with a knee? For a counterfeit $20 bill? Christ alive, I can’t. I just can’t. I mean, if it were just another person and not a person of colour, there would be no pinning of the neck with a knee. He would be just handcuffed and arrested. But no. Not Mr Floyd. The policemen just had to do that, don’t they? Because Mr Floyd was not white. I am so, so angry.

While I am glad that the police officers involved in the murder were arrested, the third-degree murder charge only scratched the surface. Mr Floyd’s family deserve justice.

So here’s the petition. Please, please sign it and help make a difference. 

Please excuse me for ending this entry on a rather angry note. But I can’t help it. I’m really so angry.

This blog entry will be the last of the Quarantine Diaries Series for now. Since I’ll be back at work on Monday, I might tell you how it goes! Again, stay healthy and keep yourselves safe, everyone. Happy Saturday!