Mike. In a recent post, you said you’ve been to Tennessee and Georgia, giving speeches and filming for your new show. Before that, you were on the road shooting for Dirty Jobs. Is it really so important to film a television show in the midst of pandemic? Is it responsible of you to encourage this kind of behavior when infection rates are spiking? Don’t you watch the news? More and more cases every day – aren’t you concerned?
Darlene Gabon
Hi Darlene
Of course, I’m concerned. I’m just not petrified.
On March 15th, the day after my part of the country was locked down, I posted a link to an interview with Dr. Michael Osterholm. I’m posting it again, because I believe you and everyone else in the country would benefit from listening carefully to what he has to say. https://bit.ly/2WLOM6o
Dr. Osterholm is the Director of Infectious Disease Research and Policy. This is the same epidemiologist who ten years ago, predicted a coronavirus would come from China and turn our country upside down. In his book “Deadliest Enemies,” he anticipated the utterly irresponsible way in which the media would report on the situation, the completely opportunistic and shamelessly political way our leaders would likely react, and the unprecedented chaos and confusion that would arise from all the mixed messages from the medical community. His resume is unexampled, https://bit.ly/3jvzQTW, and his analysis of the situation is the most logical and persuasive of any I’d heard so far. He’s also the only expert I know of who hasn’t walked back his numbers, reconsidered his position, or moved the goalposts with regard to what we must do, what we can do, and what he expects to happen next. I say all of this because Dr. Osterholm publicly predicted - in early MArch - that we could conservatively see over 100 million COVID cases in this country, with a very strong possibility of 480,000 fatalities – even if we successfully “flattened the curve.”
It took me a few weeks to accept this scenario, because 480,000 fatalities is a frightening number, and lot of other experts were saying lots of conflicting things. But eventually, I came to the conclusion that Dr. Osterholm was probably correct, and quickly navigated the four stages of grief that usually precede acceptance – denial, anger, bargaining, and depression. By late April, I had come to accept Dr. Osterholm’s predictions as a matter of fact. Since then, I’ve had three full months to come to terms with the fact that, a) I am probably going to get COVID-19 at some point, b), I am almost certainly going to survive it, and c), I might very well give it to someone else.
I hope that doesn’t sound blasé, or glib, or fatalistic, or selfish. Four-hundred eighty thousand deaths is an obvious tragedy, and I’m deeply sympathetic to all who have been impacted thus far. I’m also very concerned for my parents, and everyone else in a high risk category. But when Dr. Osterholm says that COVID can be slowed but not stopped, I believe him. When he says a vaccine will not necessarily hasten herd immunity, I believe him. And when he says that people have confused “flattening the curve” with "eliminating the virus," I believe him.
Thus, for the last three months, I’ve been operating from the assumption that this is a year-round virus that’s eventually going to infect 100 million people and kill roughly 1/2 of one percent of those infected, conservatively. I’ve accepted those numbers. Unfortunately, millions of others have not. Many people have no sense of where this is headed, and I understand why. They've been betrayed by a hysterical media that insists on covering each new reported case as if it were the first case. Every headline today drips with dread, as the next doomed hotspot approaches the next "grim milestone." And so, for a lot of people, everyday is Groundhogs Day. They're paralyzed by the rising numbers because the numbers have no context. They don't know where it will end. But Dr. Osterholm says he does, and I'm persuaded that he's correct. He might be wrong, and frankly, I hope he is, but either way, he's presented us with a set of projections based on a logical analysis, and accepting those projections has allowed me to move past denial, anger, bargaining, and depression, and get on with my life with a better understanding of what the risks really are.
Fact is, we the people can accept almost anything if we’re given the facts, and enough time to get evaluate the risk and make our own decisions. Last year in this country, there were six million traffic accidents and 36,000 fatalities. Tragic, for sure. But imagine for a moment if no one had ever died from a car accident. Imagine if this year, America endured six million traffic accidents and 36,000 fatalities...for the first time ever. Now, imagine if these accidents and fatalities - over 16,000 and 90 per day respectively - imagine if they were reported upon like every new incidence of COVID. What would that do to our willingness to drive? For a while, I suspect it would keep us all off the roads, right? I mean, six million accidents out of the blue is a lot to process, and 36,000 deaths is scary – especially if you don’t know how high that number could get. It would take us a while to access the risk, before we blindly hopped into our cars again. Eventually though - after getting some context and perspective - we'd be able to evaluate the relative danger of operating a motor vehicle. Then, we could decide for ourselves when to drive, where to drive, and how much to drive. And so we do.
Again, don’t misunderstand. I’m not ignoring COVID, or downplaying COVID, or pretending the risks at hand aren’t real. Nor am I comparing COVID cases to car accidents - I'm simply comparing the fear of each to the other, and the fear that always accompanies uncertainty. I don’t want to get this disease or give it to someone else, any more than I want to be in a car car wreck that injures someone else. But I've accepted certain things about the pandemic, and now, I've gotten used to the risk as I understand it. I take precautions. I get tested as often as I can, and if I can't physically distance, I wear a mask – especially around higher risk people. Likewise, I wear a seatbelt, obey the speed limits, and check my mirrors before changing lanes. Yes - I’m aware that we’d all be a lot safer if we kept our cars in the garage. I’m also aware we’d be a lot safer if we all kept ourselves in the house. But that’s not why cars, or people, exist.
Anyway Darlene, that’s a long way of saying that I have accepted Dr. Osterholm’s numbers, and now, after three months of acceptance, I’ve made a decision on how I wish to live my life. Sooner or later, you will too. We all will.
Mike
PS. My foundation is selling masks to raise money for our next work-ethic scholarship program. They're going fast...
Ducey Murphy was a friend of mine. I didn’t know her well, but I saw her name and her face all the time. Often on this page, and earlier, in the Dirty Jobs Mudroom, where years ago, I began to first understand the joy of communicating with the people who took an interest in my career.
Like many of you on this page, Diane kept me honest over the years with a level of feedback I never imagined I’d ever value ot enjoy as much as I have. Indeed, Diane’s name became so familiar to me, that I took it for granted that she would always be here with an encouraging word about something she saw on Dirty Jobs, or Somebody’s Gotta Do It, or Returning the Favor, or The Way I Heard It, or mikeroweWORKS, or my dog, or my mother, or any other thing I might chose to share on this page. Or, perhaps more importantly, to offer a gentle criticism when she thought perhaps I’d ventured a bit too far outside my lane, or said something she differed with. Like I said, she was a friend. Diane even travelled to see me once or twice in person, with other friends of this page. Here, we’re pictured in Baltimore a couple years ago, backstage at the Lyric Opera House after a fun evening I’ll never forget. I was touched she made such an effort to come see me, and I hope she had as much fun that night as I did.
Funny, isn't it, how people you don’t really know, can nevertheless take up residence in your life? For all the crap on the Internet, and all the nonsense on social media, and all the meanness and bullying and relentless marketing and fake news online, a simple connection between like-minded people is still for sale. Indeed, that connection is in demand today more than ever, and made possible by people like Diane.
And, people like you.
I’m glad to have known her, and grateful to have called her a friend. I'll miss her.
My condolences to her family.
Mike
Off the Wall
Caroline Marv writes...
I listened to “Play that Funky Music, White Boy.” As always, amazing. I then came home and watched the clip from Band of Brothers you mentioned. I had my 15 year old son watch it with me and he was mesmerized. Thank you for all that you do to provide a show that always goes well beyond the episode itself. You have a great gift to see the relationships between seemingly unrelated things. Thanks, Mike!
Hi Caroline
Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you and yours are enjoying the expanded format. Below is a link to the current podcast. The Beethoven your refer to is a quartet in C# minor, Op. 131. Like your son, I too was mesmerized, when I heard it first, and each time thereafter. Tell the kid he has good taste...
Mike
DIRECTORY.LIBSYN.COM
Episode 183: Play That Funky Music White Boy
Off the Wall
Jan Lyons writes...
Hi Mike. I have followed you for a long time - love you on TV. I want to ask, however, why are you now making us pay to watch you on TV? It makes no sense to me why are you doing this.
Hi Jan. I’m afraid you may have overestimated my persuasive abilities. I do not possess the power to “make you pay to watch me on TV.” In fact, I don’t have the power to make you do anything.
(You’re getting sleepy…)
Furthermore, if I did possess such an awesome power, I wouldn’t use it to make you buy a streaming service, even one as comprehensive and affordable as discovery+, where thousands of people have already enjoyed unlimited access to over 55,000 hours of quality programs, including Six Degrees with Mike Rowe.
(Verrry, sleepy….)
But here’s the truth, Jan. If you’ve been watching me on TV for years, then you’ve already been paying to do so. Cable isn’t free, you know. Neither is satellite. In fact, as you may have noticed, they’re both pretty expensive.
(You’re now completely asleep. The only sound you hear is the warm timbre of my voice. It fills you with well-being and comfort, and washes over you like a cool breeze on a warm summer day…)
For decades, Jan, millions of people have paid thousands of dollars to cable companies and satellite providers for access to hundreds of channels they have no interest in watching. All that’s changing. Streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon, Hulu, and now Discovery+ are finally allowing people to say farewell to their cable or satellite provider, and purchase content they actually want to watch for a fraction of what they’ve been paying.
(You nod in quiet agreement, as the truth fills your subconscious, opening your mind to new ideas and new ways of thinking...)
But look, Jan, if money is tight, and you’re still not ready to cut the cord, why not take advantage of the complimentary free trial when you sign up for Discovery+? In other words, Watch Six Degrees for FREE, and then, look around at all the other shows and decide if you want to keep the service. You can cancel anytime, and there's absolutely no obligation.
(On the count of three, you will awaken refreshed, with no memory of this conversation, but secure in the belief that no one can make you do anything you don’t want to do. Not even Mike Rowe. Then, from the device you’re currently using, you will sign up for your free trial at discoveryplus.com, and immediately watch all six episodes of Six Degrees with Mike Rowe. Ready? One….Two….Three…AWAKE!)
Anyway, Jan, thanks again for your support over the years, and for your excellent question. See you on TV!
Mike
