{"id":4945,"date":"2020-11-21T07:33:06","date_gmt":"2020-11-21T17:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=4945"},"modified":"2020-11-21T07:33:12","modified_gmt":"2020-11-21T17:33:12","slug":"happy-thanksgiving-to-all-be-well-and-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2020\/11\/21\/happy-thanksgiving-to-all-be-well-and-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Thanksgiving to All! Be Well and Safe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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For the families of 200,000-plus, and counting, as well as the over 11 million who\u2019ve contracted the coronavirus \u2013 this Thanksgiving will take on added meaning. To those millions of others who\u2019ve lost their jobs or their fortunes as their small businesses went under this year, they too will look at this Thanksgiving like no other. At various degrees, all of us have been changed due to the coronavirus and find the traditional day of giving thanks in a different light.

Throughout the year, we\u2019ve relied on optimism, humor, psychological detachment from reality, and many other coping mechanisms to get by. Giving thanks can reasonably be rejected this year for those who\u2019ve lost close family. Thanksgiving, perhaps will be spent grieving and suffering as it would be the first holiday without their loved ones present.

For those who\u2019ve contracted COVID-19 and survived, perhaps their Thanksgiving will go deeper than appreciation as they could be challenging at this very moment their old models they\u2019ve had of what the meaning in life is and begin to search for understanding to the seemingly randomness of life events. \u201cI don\u2019t even know how I got the coronavirus. I\u2019ve been taking precautions. Then there are others who\u2019ve been reckless and haven\u2019t gotten it. It\u2019s just all unfair,\u201d \u2013 a typical response of COVID-19 survivors.

Then there is yet another matter of surviving COVID-19 — the medical bills that have racked up.

A new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that the average cost of COVID-19 treatment for someone with employer insurance\u2014and without complications\u2014would be about $9,763. Someone whose treatment has complications may see bills about double that: $20,292. Individual plans vary, depending on cost-sharing and caps.

Uninsured Americans with COVID-19 would pay an estimated average of $73,300 for a 6-day hospital stay, according to a recent report by FAIR Health.

The financial toll of the virus is not limited to those who\u2019ve contracted the virus. Also effected are millions of others who haven\u2019t contracted COVID-19. Hawaii residents have experienced among the worst unemployment rates this year. Hawaii had the second highest rate among states for permanent business closures from March 1 to July 10, at 6.9 permanent closures per 1,000 businesses.

Hawaii\u2019s rate, which trailed only Nevada at 7.3, suggests that more than 1,000 Hawaii businesses may have already folded. Honolulu\u2019s permanent business closure rate of 7.9 was third-highest among U.S. cities, behind only Las Vegas and Stockton, Calif., and just ahead of San Francisco.

Thanksgiving Day celebration<\/strong>
On top of the human and financial loss, the pandemic is not over but at its peak. So Thanksgiving itself will no doubt be different. The CDC is recommending that celebration be kept to those only in one\u2019s household. That means no visiting family, in-town or out-of-town. No potlucks and group fun.

Some people will integrate internet virtual connections or talking on the phone with loved ones. Some have planned charitable ways to celebrate like shopping and delivering food to an elderly person who could be spending Thanksgiving alone. Some say they will forego Thanksgiving celebration altogether. Some say they want to donate to the Food Bank grocery or write a check to help needy and homeless families.

Helping the homeless and needy has been a long-standing tradition on Thanksgiving, for obvious reasons. In addition to our homeless population, helping those who\u2019ve been hurt by the coronavirus could be much welcomed. Donating food or even a monetary gift to go to someone unemployed due to COVID, someone behind on rent because of COVID.

If there\u2019s a lesson we can take from the pandemic is how our lives are interconnected in so many ways. From global to community, our actions have reverberating impact.

Last Thanksgiving 2019, the millions of Americans impacted by the pandemic this year, never could have imagined how dramatically their lives would change in 2020. Many of them were also the ones doing good, doing charitable work each Thanksgiving. Now it could be their turn to receive good tidings.

Insensitivity<\/strong>
The pandemic is changing the way people see the world. An example just days ago, Island 98.5 DJ \u201cSlick Vic\u201d Harris was suspended for his mocking comments of a local entertainer Paula Fuga during a show and fundraiser for the Hawaii Food Bank. Fundraisers are common for the Food Bank just before Thanksgiving day.

Fuga was at the fundraiser to talk about her experience as a homeless child on the beach growing up. She talked about how she was so hungry and resorted to going through trash cans for food.

Below is a transcription of the interaction:

Paula<\/strong>: I could cry thinking about it. In the dark, with my hand from the trash can. You want a visual?
Host<\/strong>: That\u2019s what this radiothon is for.
Paula<\/strong>: Would you like to dig deeper into my soul?
Host<\/strong>: I love your soul, I love your soul.
Paula<\/strong>: Do you have a box of tissue?
Host<\/strong>: No but we got a trash can right over there by the bar.
Another<\/strong> host<\/strong>: Just in case she\u2019s hungry.

The insensitive joke most likely would have been overlooked prior to the pandemic. But that incident lit up social media and received major blowback.

The reaction to the host\u2019s insensitivity is clearly related to the many isle residents who are experiencing intense hardship of their own this year, including the possibility of not making rent and going homeless themselves.

It\u2019s commonly said suffering makes a person better because that person\u2019s perspective is broadened. If there is a silver lining going into Thanksgiving Day we could be thankful about at least for some of us, perhaps it\u2019s that the pandemic has made us more caring and compassionate.

Happy Thanksgiving to All! May our good Lord bless you and your family. Be safe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the families of 200,000-plus, and counting, as well as the over 11 million who\u2019ve…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?fit=643%2C385&ssl=1",643,385,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?fit=300%2C180&ssl=1",300,180,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?fit=640%2C383&ssl=1",640,383,true],"large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?fit=640%2C383&ssl=1",640,383,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?fit=643%2C385&ssl=1",643,385,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?fit=643%2C385&ssl=1",643,385,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?resize=643%2C385&ssl=1",643,385,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?resize=643%2C385&ssl=1",643,385,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?resize=600%2C385&ssl=1",600,385,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?resize=600%2C385&ssl=1",600,385,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?resize=643%2C385&ssl=1",643,385,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?resize=643%2C385&ssl=1",643,385,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?fit=643%2C385&ssl=1",643,385,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?resize=540%2C319&ssl=1",540,319,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Editorials<\/a>","tag_info":"Editorials","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/editorial-1.jpg?fit=643%2C385&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4946,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945\/revisions\/4946"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}