By Amelia Hamilton

Welcome to Are We Doomed? the weekly column in which I will take the latest news and try to determine if it’s all downhill from here.

PANIC

Not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s a virus or something. People are showing their true character, which can go either way.

  1. If you’re practicing “social distancing” it’s hard to build community. It’s even harder if you’re in full quarantine and everything is closed. Still, Italians are finding a way to spread joy (but not a hideous virus) with their neighbors. This isn’t even from the faucet wine!
  • Wait, what?
  • The best thing we can do is step up to help each other. For some of us, all we can offer is a meme to cheer somebody up. For others, it’s a grocery run for an at-risk neighbor. As a professional athlete, 19 year-old New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson is able to do a lot more, and he is stepping up.
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The people of New Orleans have been incredibly welcoming and supportive since I was Drafted by the Pels last June, and some of the most special people I have met are those who work at smoothie King Center. These are the folks who make our games possible, creating the perfect environment for our fans and everyone involved in the organization. Unfortunately, many of them are still recovering from long term challenges created by Katrina, and now face the economic impact of the postponement of games because of the virus. My mother has always set an example for me about being respectful for others and being grateful for what we have, and so today I am pledging to cover the salaries for all of those Smoothie King Center workers for the next 30 days. This is a small way for me to express my support and appreciation for these wonderful people who have been so great to me and my teammates and hopefully we can all join together to relieve some of the stress and hardship caused by this national health crisis. This is an incredibly resilient city full of some of the most resilient people, but sometimes providing a little extra assistance can make things a little easier for the community.

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4. People are doing very dumb things to try to stay healthy. Please Don’t do this.

5. Capitalism is great. Greed is bad. So I’m kind of glad this guy who tried to buy all the hand sanitizer and price gouge is left without anyone to sell it to.

6. We’ve all been in a Zoom video meeting that could have been an e-mail. But here we are, with full makeup and pajama pants, acting like adults. Still, that’s not Zoom’s fault, and CEO Eric Yuan is going to help schools closed due to Coronavirus by letting them access his videoconferencing tools for free so students don’t fall behind. Here are some other free resources to help kids and parents.

Verdict: Mr. Rogers always said that, in a crisis, you need to look for the helpers. They will show you that things are going to be ok. As long as we keep taking care of each other, even in pandemic panic, we’re going to be ok. Unless the monkeys get us.

SPEAKING OF HELPERS

Verdict: People helping animals are the best people, and tell me we’re not so doomed after all.

DOGS AND HELPERS

Verdict: Some helpers are wiling to risk it all for us and our freedom. And the goodest of bois give them the welcome home they deserve (if they aren’t serving, too). No doom detected.

GOOD THINGS HAPPEN

Sometimes, good things just happen.

Verdict: There’s always hope, which suggests a lack of doom.

IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS

These are some crazy times, but I think we’re going to be ok. At least for now. Then again, it’s the Ides of March, so be careful out there.