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Pandemic Choices

2020/5/24

 

At first, I thought: Why are people choosing differently than me?

I admire the quiet choice of the absent (pilots and schools), but I also "get" those who chose differently...

 

Schools

For my PG school, I chose to comply with California's "shelter-in-place" order (non-essential businesses to be closed) and USHPA's newsletter of April 1st (not a joke) stating in bold letters: "we strongly discourage solo and tandem instruction at this time". But it may have been easier for me to make this choice, as I turned 58 this month, and less dependent on immediate income.

Other schools/instructors with more years ahead of them, or more in need of immediate income, can understandably arrive to a different decision, after weighing their pros and cons. We do want to maximize the number of schools still being around in the future, instead of changing their careers. For instructors, everything feels right at the time: Student(s) happy, you feel productive, others at the site will cheer you on (those who wouldn't aren't there), police will not show up or do anything more than a verbal reprimand, no immediate sign of contagion and very challenging to prove later that you contributed.

 

Students

Most students are young, have lots of free time now and personally unafraid of the virus. Conscience grows as we age and gain life experience. If a school is offering services, students will rationalize that it must therefore be OK to proceed. Seeing other students at the site will completely validate their choice. That sweaty harness was fully disinfected before use. The instructor knows best about flying, and this has to extend to the virus situation.

 

Pilots

For anybody that chooses to fly, we should at least take a big step back with identifiable flying risks, to avoid requiring emergency services that will leave a bad impression on our community.

Wouldn't you hate to be the extra accident, that makes the city/county close down our site?

 

Social media

Ask photographers not to take your picture, but if they must: Not position themselves horizontally from their subjects as it makes everybody look close together, best to use a shot from above (drone or pilot flying over) as it makes people look further apart. Avoid posting pictures/videos online, it can anger those who were not there (they may think differently). Difficult to change our habits that normally encourage socializing and the gratification of "look what I did".

 

Still wondering what to do? (not too serious)

Instead of trying to make sense of the conflicting advice from politicians, medical experts, civil right defenders, corporations, or struggling families…

Simplify and just ask yourself: What would Chrigel do?

 

Once the virus has run its course, I hope all will be comfortable with their choices, as different as they may be.