Denial and Action in the Face of the Pandemic
The COVID-19 virus came out of nowhere. Up until March 15th, I was in denial. I did not think it would affect my country or my company, and I assumed that I’d mainly have to deal with the fear that the virus had generated. Then, on March 16th, my country, Honduras, went into lockdown. From one day to the next, we had to walk away from our two ongoing construction projects and move our corporate office to remote work.
As I’m reading Amanda Ripley’s The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why (public library), I see myself mirrored in the stories she tells. In her book, she describes the survival arc we go through when we are confronted with disaster, and the first stage is denial. That is precisely where I was before March 15th. I have been wondering why I couldn’t see more of the impact the virus might have in the week or two before, but now I understand.