militarized zone - noun - area heavily occupied by military personnel
The opposite of a demilitarized zone is a militarized one. I just got back from getting a COVID test at a drive-thru, portable encampment, complete with moss green tents, erected in a local university's parking lot. As my daughter and I were waiting in our car to have our noses swabbed with an overgrown Q-tip, I couldn't help but flashback to two analogous experiences: waiting on a similar line at the DMV to get my car inspected and waiting on a tour bus to cross into then Communist Hungary from Austria in 1979. The latter encounter was more like the initial than the former. Why? The police presence. As I was observing the police officers confabulating, positively glowing in their canary yellow uniforms, I kept thinking that one would knock on my window and ask me for my passport at any moment. I wound up being close because I was asked for my driver's license. Same difference. There is a fine line between government procedural norms, it seems.
So what does this have to do with optimism? Well, the small picture doesn't; the large one does. The COVID facility was quite full on a rainy Thursday morning, which, despite the militaristic feel, is a favorable sign. Simply put, more and more people are willing to be tested for COVID, something that could translate into the assumption that more and more people are willing to follow the rules even in a free country. If people are willing to do what it takes voluntarily, then we might just get through this pandemic a lot sooner. That's being optimistic. Right?
Always look on the sunny side of life. I'm not sure who said it first, but it's a pretty practical suggestion to leave you with today.
#word of the day, #vocabulary, #writers, #writers and poets, #words, #inspiration, #optimism, #inspiring words
#inspirational thoughts, #inspiration, #inspirational words, #words of wisdom, #affirmation, #optimism, #poets and writers, #writers community, #writers, #readers #writing #poetry #poets on tumblr #poem #authors #quotes
No comments:
Post a Comment