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Yes, You Are Allowed to Laugh at COVID-19

Helping Us to Cope with Loss and Beat Back Fear Are Two of Humor's Most Underrated Strengths

By Everyday JunglistPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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It is kind of funny. Image by Spiritze from Pixabay

I know not everyone agrees, but I happen to think that anything can be made fun of. There is no topic or subject for which humor is totally off limits. Of course there is a time and a place, and a right way and a wrong way, but there is always a time, and there is always a way. When parody and satire are deployed during the midst of a tragedy, determining that time and figuring out that right way is one of the humorists' most difficult tasks. And it is a very important task. Humor is perhaps the most underrated and underutilized mechanisms we have as humans for coping with loss and remaining calm when fear threatens to overwhelm us. It does this in many ways, but I think mostly it is because it allows us to put things in their proper perspective and "take a step back." It illuminates tragedy in a way that causes us to think about it in a different way, a better way. Instead of sadness and fear, we smile and laugh, and we think maybe everything is not as bad as it seems, or even if it is, that it's not the end of the world. Yes, the pandemic is terrible, and it is tragic, but it will not result in the end of the world, and not even the most skeptical and worried of experts (I count myself among that group) are suggesting that outcome as possible even in the worst case scenarios. With all that serious stuff out of the way read on for my very few attempts (3 total) at COVID humor. Probably not my best efforts but cut me some slack, difficult topic. Gheesh. LOL!

SARS-CoV-2 Questions the Meaning of It All

Cute for a deadly pathogen. Image by Miroslava Chrienova from Pixabay

SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19 disease, had a momentary crisis of faith last week when it began to question the meaning of it all. After close to 10⁶⁸ replicative life cycles the virus reportedly told friends it “wasn’t sure what it’s all about anymore” lamenting “what’s the point?” The virus elaborated by explaining there are only so many times you can hijack a host’s cellular machinery and force it to make spike protein before it starts to seem pointless. It went on to say “The bursting out part at the very end of the lytic life cycle when you get to see all your progeny take their first steps into the world is pretty damn cool but it also makes a giant mess. There are only so many times a virus can clean cytoplasmic goo out of its envelope proteins before going crazy.” SARS-CoV-2 closed by saying wistfully “I don’t know, I just feel like I don’t know who I am anymore, or what I want to do with the rest of my life.” The fact that viruses are not living things and thus have no life to not know what to do with apparently did little to comfort the obviously depressed positive sense single stranded RNA betacoronavirus. Reached for comment SARS-CoV-2 friends SARS-Co-V and MERS both expressed feeling similar emotions when they were more widely in circulation killing humans. Speaking on behalf of both MERS said “It was partly all the pain and suffering I was causing that had me questioning the meaning of it all, but mostly it was the goo, all that damn cytoplasmic goo. Every fuckin day with that shit. Felt like I could never get clean.”

World’s Top Microorganisms Gather in Last Ditch Effort to Stop SARS-CoV-2 - Former Deadliest Pathogens Agree to Work Together to Slow the Spread of COVID-19

Generic microbiology image 101, the agar plate. Image by nadya_il from Pixabay

In a meeting of great historical import the leaders of the world’s formerly deadliest pathogens agreed today to work together to fight SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID19 disease. Eric Bolanger (Ebola) leader of the viral hemorrhagic fever contingent stood shoulder to shoulder with his former rival and rumored current love interest EEVE (Eastern equine encephalitis) to announce they would be working together to find and eradicate SARS-CoV-2 “wherever” it may be. In a statement Bolanger said “we must find and kill SARS-CoV-2 before it can find and kill all the humans we used to find and kill. We must act now or soon there will be no more humans left for any microorganism to kill. Without humans around for killing our lives would have no meaning.” When one reporter pointed out that it is not possible to kill SARS-CoV-2 since, as a virus, it is not technically alive Bolanger replied simply “fuck off.”

Writing in the Time of (Fill in the Blank) Articles in the Time of COVID-19

It is one thing to write an article with the overused and cliche yet much beloved title “In the time of (fill in the blank)” where the blank is some world altering, epoch shattering event, in normal times. However, writing about such globe changing occurrences in the time of COVID-19 is another thing entirely. For example after every article I write describing how this millennium crushing event will change our lives forever I have to stop and sanitize my keyboard. All because of this stupid virus, SARS-CoV-2. It really sucks because normally when I describe the mind bending changes that are soon to be upon us I don’t really care if someone sneezes behind me in the coffee shop. Now all of a sudden I have to race home, hop in the shower, turn the water on ultra hot and scrub myself silly for 15 minutes with bleach infused soap. Stupid virus.

humor
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About the Creator

Everyday Junglist

Practicing mage of the natural sciences (Ph.D. micro/mol bio), Thought middle manager, Everyday Junglist, Boulderer, Cat lover, No tie shoelace user, Humorist, Argan oil aficionado. Occasional LinkedIn & Facebook user

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