Tom Hanks has a wonderful talent for cutting through the BS, and he did just that this morning on the Today Show discussing his and his wife’s recent battle with the coronavirus and his thoughts on the idiots out there (cough … Donald Trump … cough) who are downplaying the severity and danger of the pandemic.
Among his gems:
“There is no law against ignorance. … But I think you flout a number of realities when two and two don’t add up to four.”
Did I mention he’s really good at cutting through the BS?
Hanks, who is expert on the subject, pointed to the uncertainties Americans faced during World War II, which “went on for an awfully long time — a big portion of everyone’s lives.” I’ve noted before that Americans endured these “uncertainties” for more than four years, while people haven’t been able to sacrifice for a few months during this crisis.
What got people through those years, Hanks said, was a “sensibility” that “permeated” society — “Do your part. We’re all in this together.”
Times are different, but the challenge is the same. Unfortunately, the national “sensibility” is not. Quite possibly because we don’t have anybody sensible in charge.
Noting that we don’t know when the pandemic will end, or what the outcome will be, Hanks said, “The idea of doing one’s part should be so simple.
“Wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands. That alone means you are contributing to the betterment of your house, your work, your town, your society as a whole, and it’s such a simple thing. It’s a mystery to me how somehow that has been wiped out of what should be ingrained in the behavior of us all. Simple things! Do your part!”
Then Hanks played the Bruce Springsteen card: “There is a darkness at the edge of town here, folks. Let’s not confuse the fact — it’s killing people.
Hearing him say that sent a chill down my spine. Talk about cutting though the BS. Nothing explains the threat of this pandemic more clearly. The danger is at the edge of our existence. It is not going away. Like the fog descending on an isolated Maine town in a Stephen King thriller, it is going to envelop us all.
Let’s not confuse the fact …
Do your part.