DAVID MILGRIM
A comic retrospective of the year that stunk
My wife and I have had both of our shots now and we’re slowly starting to make plans. It’s exciting. I can actually imagine this shit storm passing, and finally, it feels like a safe time to look back.
The nightmare kicked off with a blur of new concepts and terminology.
The hardest new concept was about “social distance,” which was alien to most, but not to everyone.
Most of us had to learn a whole new way of being.
We had to figure out how to get along every day, all day, with everyone home, all the time, every hour, week after week, without reprieve.
And we had to get used to a new article of clothing.
Some couldn’t handle the change and a weird chasm began to open.
But, we adapted, as we always do. New opportunities emerged to bake and sew and lean into the creative sides of ourselves that had long been sidelined by the insipidly busy day-to-day to which we had become inured.
There were frustrations and worries about how things were being handled, including the unexpected challenge of simply getting tested.
And the astonishing and eviscerating vacuum of leadership, basic reason, empathy, and common decency from the White House.
Conflicts erupted where no conflict could have previously been imagined.
There were disconcerting shortages in the supply chain as the raw ugliness of competition for basic goods briefly reared its head.
There were heartbreaking deferrals and cancellations of our most important rituals, milestones, and celebrations as time marched on.
Tensions rose. Insanity raged.
We did what we could to stay sane in the new normal.
Not everyone was able to tolerate the prolonged isolation. Those that could, stayed home and shook their fists, or drew comics, at those who could do no better than invent meaningless phrases to excuse their inability.
The election came along proving us with our main distraction from the virus, but a piss-poor distraction it was.
We got through it though. And eventually, the holidays rolled around.
It wasn’t easy to celebrate them, or anything, without family and friends. But the idea of possibly killing the people you love, or being killed by them, left no good alternative.
Finally, a glimmer of hope came in the exciting news of positive vaccine trials!
As lucky as we had felt to get rid of 2019, we were even happier to leave 2020 rotting in a ditch by the side of the road.
But 2021 wasn’t without worries. There were still lots of red lights down the tunnel leading to the light.
We began to have doubts that anything was getting better.
But we hung in there. For those who were fortunate enough not to lose people or suffer the misery of prolonged or severe illness, it wasn’t all bad. There were the silver linings even inside of the dark brown poop cloud of Covid-19.
One silver lining was the new perspective it gave us on our lives and selves which would have been otherwise unavailable.
Now, as we emerge into regular life again, we will undoubtedly bring new vigor and excitement to what promises to be a thrilling, new, post-pandemic world of connection and endless gratitude, leaving us with optimism and a deep, collective sigh of relief.
. . . . . . . . . .
If you want more, here is a video of a kid’s book parody of the misery, both domestic and political:
https://youtu.be/o4kM16o6B9M
If you liked this, you might also like this comic about some things I’m actually going to miss about the pandemic!
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Comics by David Milgrim
Just trying to feel okay, one comic at a time
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