Problem (Not) Solved

To say I am really over this bloody COVID thing is an understatement. I don't know what to think about it anymore. I believe there is something very contagious and horrible killing a lot of people and making them very sick across the world. As to what it actually is - whether it's a virus or some other highly transmissable disease; how it got here - whether it was genetically engineered in China or let loose by Bill Gates and his buddies; and what we should do about it - wear masks, not wear masks,  isolate, shut everything down, pretend it isn't happening, live in fear......or all of the above. Keeping up with daily tallies, self-entitled millionaire businessman Clive Palmer suing our state because we have kept our borders closed, and reactive government guidelines is exhausting. 

Not to mention wondering what to do about 'social distancing' at the beach or the local Tip Shop (which has become a Mecca for the many comfortably-well-off tourists looking for a bargain - as if they need one). So many out of town visitors are constantly here - either out of work, being supported by government JobKeeper and JobSeeker allowances, diverting their scheduled annual overseas holidays to the south coast of their state or working away from the office in their holiday homes. Everything has changed. My once lovely coastal town is now busy all the time and I am absolutely fed up dealing with humans. I completely understand why folks are escaping the city - I just wish they wouldn't escape HERE. Real estate sales have gone nuts and I am looking further east to see where else I can escape to. Sadly I'm running out of places now.

Am I a really bad person to feel the sheer weight of humanity has become so unbearable I'm thinking this 'virus' might just be a good thing if it wipes out millions of us? Objectively I can justify that position. Of course subjectively I don't want anyone to suffer or die - except maybe Clive Palmer and our prime minister (I'm  not even going to use capitals for him).

I had words with my boss last week - I basically lost it. I even dropped the 'F' bomb, then quickly apologised for swearing. I don't care that I'm a casual on 5-week contracts - I've got my limit and last week was it. My default position: if you don't like what I'm doing or saying - sack me - and maybe do us both a favour. I won't and can't go into details but in a nutshell - our state government has slashed 15% off our already ridiculously meagre budget. Like so many government departments we are struggling, and failing, to deliver basic services. Everyone works hard and is subjected to more and more stress. Long gone are the comfortably slack 1980s public service jobs like the one I ditched at 19 to run off up north with a man. (I didn't like that job anyway, and the man was a huge disappointment too).

On top of all this I'm grappling with the issue of 'relevance' - as in - what the hell are we all actually trying to achieve? The system, all systems, are so broken they simply can't be fixed. They are imploding but they need to collapse fully before we can gather the whole mess up and start from scratch. All of us who work for the government are probably only delaying the inevitable. But we all need jobs and the people we serve need us to keep doing our jobs as best we can until something else comes along.

This post didn't start out like this. I was only going to post Munted Bear and leave it at that. Such is the level of my frustration I've now done a huge rant. If you have got this far, thanks for indulging me.

Image: Author. Original concept, hand drawn, digitally coloured.