Last week, all NYC DDC (capital construction project manager) suspended all projects leaving me without work. It was shocking, given that DDC projects like Steven Holl's and WorkAC's libraries took 10 years to come into fruition i figured my job was safe for another 7 years. It was only a month ago that the first reported case of corona hit NYC. Faced with budget demands of fighting corona, NYC public architecture budgets have been surrendered. to clear my head, i went to the park. nobody told the trees about the virus. everything is blooming in quarantine. i called my friend working in a hospital to see how he was doing, and to bounce crazy ideas off him.
"it's like a science fiction movie. all the old people are dying, the kids are running around like nothing happened."
"yeah"
"i have an idea. instead of making tic toc videos, all the young kids should volunteer in hospitals... they don't need face masks or anything. no need for trump to order supplies or plan anything special. they're immune."
"yeah, but i'm not sure i would trust their clinical judgement.... five year olds are not known to make great clinical choices."
"how about high schoolers?"
"fuck, i trust high schoolers less!"
"what is there to do really? the NY Post headlines read "NYC paramedic says coronavirus patients brought to hospitals ‘to die'" Based on the headlines in NYC, you would think all they have to do is turn on a ventilator."
"just wait and watch folks get sick?"
"yeah. kids these days could learn some compassion."
"i guess they could learn how to intubate and flip a switch. maybe it is that simple. i'm sure there are medical decisions to be made..."
"like... should we let the architect or lawyer live?"
"that's pretty easy, the architect.... it could be rule based.... like doctor > firefighter > teacher > farmer > scientists > water treatment worker > electricians > carpenters > architect > web developer > lawyer > tax collector> bartender...."
"but i guess, it gets more complicated if the lawyer is one of the kids' mom or something."
"there should be a rule, you can't treat your family member.... who should live, who should die.... we would be putting god like power in the hands of a surly 17 year old"
"you know why the 1918 spanish flu killed mostly healthy young people yet spared old people?"
"why?"
"cause the older generation was exposed to a similar flu many years before 1918 and were immune"
"so maybe that's good for us when we're old and the next pandemic strikes in 30 years"
"yeah. it's great to be middle aged"
"the spanish flu started out in the midwest when some sick goose shit came in contact with a kid. the virus jumped from birds to people and spread with the troops fighting world war I"
"fucking animals... out to get us"
"yeah but did you know brain processes are fueled by viral mechanisms?"
"which parts, infectious laughter"
"snippets of viruses in our Arc genes package genetic information into capsids when our synapses fire... these packages of information tell nerves how to communicate and reorganize over time. in autistic kids, these genes are missing...."
"weird"
"yeah, there's a reason for viral evolution... sometimes it wipes out your work and city, sometimes it confers human consciousness."
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