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A Tale of Two Stories
David Brooks and Nicholas Kristof (in the New York Times) each wrote passionate accounts of where we are with Covid-19— the places they spoke from and pictures were very different.
Brook’s was a lofty and delightful address to those already with a place in the room (his words were pitched to the class of 2021 Boston College). Appreciating more of what we have, discarding the superficial and honing the quality of our relationships were the lessons and come back from the Covona ordeal. Nicholas Kristof was concerned with friends more out across the country but tucked away. Those who had fragile platforms before the pandemic and where recovery now is much more difficult. He talks intimately of Americans struggling with existing ordeals — of mental matters, drug dependencies, tenuous jobs and (because of these mixes) fractured human relationships.
The parts of America each of our columnists describe are on diverging tracks. They made me think of Van Gogh and his “Wheatfield with Crows” where the paths divide and travelers only become further and further apart. Vincent described a loneliness and despair that we are all not necessarily immune from. I thought of Scott Joplin and even Tutankhamun because it was what they left behind that makes them exist in our lives today — the manuscript of ‘Treemonisha’ and all that newly discovered treasure. And there was Jacob Riis with his flash…
