This was my prison. My cell was on the other side.When we boarded her at the beginning of March we had no idea how bad things would get.We were also in a part of the world that hadn't been affected at all yet. In a matter of days things started getting cancelled. First Madagascar due to politics and violence. But everything after that was fear and ignorance. Port after port refused us safe harbor even though we were pre-screened and aymptomatic - and with an average age older than my parents surely someone would have presented symptoms.
The more ports refused us the more ridiculous it became. I was stuck inside a Becket play. The ports were infected, we were not and yet we were the pariahs. We sat in Cape Town's harbor for days before South Africa finally decided they'd rather have us away than near them. We were airlifted out and away without a clue if we'd be allowed entry anywhere else. I traded this prison for another.
I can't even imagine what it must be like if people are actually sick and dying and knowing that if you stay on board you will get sick and you will die. But when you hear about the USS Roosevelt or cruise ships that have infected passengers, remember that those are people on board. They are not just vectors of contagion.
Photo mine
The more ports refused us the more ridiculous it became. I was stuck inside a Becket play. The ports were infected, we were not and yet we were the pariahs. We sat in Cape Town's harbor for days before South Africa finally decided they'd rather have us away than near them. We were airlifted out and away without a clue if we'd be allowed entry anywhere else. I traded this prison for another.
I can't even imagine what it must be like if people are actually sick and dying and knowing that if you stay on board you will get sick and you will die. But when you hear about the USS Roosevelt or cruise ships that have infected passengers, remember that those are people on board. They are not just vectors of contagion.
Political discussion welcome.
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