Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, May 2, 2020

12

OPINION: 

 Mountain Views News Saturday, May 2, 2020 

MOUNTAIN 
VIEWS

NEWS

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR

Susan Henderson

PASADENA CITY 
EDITOR

Dean Lee 

PRODUCTION

SALES

Patricia Colonello

626-355-2737 

626-818-2698

WEBMASTER

John Aveny 

DISTRIBUTION

CONTRIBUTORS

Stuart Tolchin 

Audrey Swanson

Mary Lou Caldwell

Kevin McGuire

Chris Leclerc

Bob Eklund

Howard Hays

Paul Carpenter

Kim Clymer-Kelley

Christopher Nyerges

Peter Dills 

Rich Johnson

Lori Ann Harris

Rev. James Snyder

Katie Hopkins

Deanne Davis

Despina Arouzman

Jeff Brown

Marc Garlett

Keely Toten

Dan Golden

Rebecca Wright

Hail Hamilton

Joan Schmidt

LaQuetta Shamblee

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Madre; in Court Case 
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Madre, California, 91024. 
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Editorial

WHAT GOOD CAN COME FROM THIS?

In the 9 cities and associated unincorporated areas that are covered by the Mountain Views 
News, COVID19 has made more of an impact than just the loss of employment, closure of 
local businesses and recreational facilities, social distancing and mask wearing. Since Mid 
March, the disease has fundamentally changed the way we live.

No one could have predicted this situation because, as it has been said over and over again, 
there has never been an event or disease or threat of disease that has completely shut down 
the world as we knew it.

But despite the stresses of being confined in our homes, our anxiety over how we will sustain 
ourselves financially, and the inability to express even the most basic of human needs, 
physically connect to one another, like shaking someone’s hand or, my favorite, hugging, 
there have been many good things that are surfacing. And that is, the commonality of our 
humanness has come to the forefront.

Don’t believe it? Well here’s the good news:

SIDE EFFECTS THAT AREN'T SO BAD:

1. Social Distancing has made us much more civilized. In the lines at the grocery 
store the grumpiness, selfishness and impatience appear to have dissipated. No 
more pushing or cutting the lines. No more urging little old ladies to ‘hurry up’. 
2. Loving Thy Neighbor – No longer are we ignoring the neighbors that we don’t 
normally interact with. People are reaching out to neighbors to see if they need 
anything or if you can lend them a hand. 
3. We appreciate those who make sacrifices for us. Pre-COVID-19, many of us 
never gave much thought to the dangers our first responders and especially hospital 
workers, not just the doctors and nurses, but the PA’s, the nursing aides and 
orderlies, all willing to come to work daily and risk becoming infected with this 
deadly disease in order to try to save lives. (By the way, most hospital workers are 
tragically underpaid.)
4. Families are talking to one another. COVID-19 has compelled even the most 
dysfunctional families to interact. There is no escaping, even for teenagers. Families 
are learning how to live together, laugh together, cry together and share together.
5. Calling your Mama! Whether it is your Mother, or Dad, or Grandma or Grandpa, 
brother, sister, cousin, or good friend, we are reaching out to all of those on our 
“I’ll call them later list.” Communication with those we love who are not in our 
immediate household has become of the utmost importance to us, since none of us 
know what ‘tomorrow’ may be like.
6. We’ve learned that we don’t need to do all those things that we thought were 
necessary. We don’t have to be in our cars 24/7. Shopoholics have been cured 
without a 12 step program. As a result, we are learning that we really don’t have to 
dispose of all of our disposable income. (Especially since we don’t know how long 
it will last.)
7. COVID-19 has made us pay attention to the world around us. We are spending 
more time actually following the virus and its development via the ‘news’ and other 
resources. We are eradicating the, “its someone else’s problem” because it isn’t. 
It’s our problem…..and the more we know about it, the better we will be able to 
understand what is going on. It’s not like watching a hurricane strike the east coast 
and living on the west coast. The Pandemic has hit everyone, everywhere in one 
way or another.
8. Inspired our Creativity and Organizational skills. Bringing out our Creative 
Side – Chefs, Gardners and Crafters are blooming everywhere. Closets have been 
rearranged. Garages cleaned out. Honey Do lists eradicated. 
9. Play Time is Back. We are learning to Live without our couch potato sports events 
AND We’re adjusting just fine by actually engaging in sports with family members. 
If you drive down the street on almost any day, you see and or hear families playing 
catch, basketball, hop scotch, tag, volleyball in their front and back yards. Those are 
things that you didn’t see often just 6 months ago. 
10. And, we’re re-evaluating our priorities. We’re learning, for some, that 
nothing stays the same. Life has no guarantees. Here today, gone tomorrow is more 
than a colloquial expression. So let's treasure each moment and live again!



LEFT/RIGHT/OR IN THE MIDDLELEFT/RIGHT/OR IN THE MIDDLE

STUART TOLCHIN

LET’S JUST TRY AND STAY CALM

 
The main purpose of this article is not to mention problems associated with our present living situation caused by the action, 
inactions, and outright lies of our Pre---. I’m not even going to mention that Hombre Naranjo (as someone in Southern California you 
should know enough Spanish to understand to whom I am referring.) If you don’t know enough of the language you could usually ask 
almost any stranger on the street to translate and 2 out of 3 could easily make it clear to you. Of course today, or whenever you get a chance 
to read this, you probably still won’t be walking around talking to strangers because we are all still mainly confined to our own houses and 
wary of talking to anybody. Why? We all know why! Because of the despicable Corona—I don’t want even to mention its name. I’m not 
even going to talk about it or think about it. 

Speaking of thinking, as I wrote last week this past Sunday, April 26th, was my birthday. I happened to check the internet and learned that 
the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius was born on April 26th a mere 832 years before my birth. For those of you unacquainted with this 
unquestionably illustrious personage he was one of the major Stoic philosophers. As I learned, Stoicism can be summed up by one of 
the emperor’s most famous quotes:

“You have power over your mind—not outside events

 Realize this and you will find strength.”

Pretty interesting, don’t you think? Please keep it in mind as I intend to come back to it. Another famous quote is:

 “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact.

 Everything we see is perspective, not the truth.”

During this time of constant widely distributed presentations of partisan news or what might better be called propaganda or “fake news” maybe it’s best 
to realize than none of it is actually “truth”; it is just mere 
opinions from different viewpoints. 

Right, if none of the alleged “facts” are to be considered as 
true there is still this unmentionable “opinion” absolutely 
plaguing all of us with the feeling that we are all going to 
be killed. Well, Aurelius has left us with another sort of 
irrefutable quote:

 “Death smiles at us all, but all a man can do is 
smile back” 

What’s that mean? I guess it’s true that each of us is going to 
die sooner or later and we were aware of that all along. So 
why get upset about it now? He counsels us to

 “Waste no time arguing about what a good man 
should be. Be One”

Is that really helpful? Just concentrate on being a good man 
when all of these unforeseen calamities are inflicted upon 
us. Alright these are “outside events; but they are pretty 
damn close and are happening all around us. Not only the 
coronavirus ( alright I mentioned it) but the ever increasing 
climate emergency and the seemingly ruined economy and 
the fact that we can’t even get close enough to hug our children 
or grandchildren Can one follow his recommendation to 
maintain control of mind and stay calm no matter what’s 
going on around us. I wondered how able Aurelius was to 
live up to his own standards. History tells us that at age 58 
Aurelius became ill and did not want to infect his son and 
forbade his son to come and see him and soon thereafter died 
a victim of the plague that was going around. I don’t know 
how calm he was but I believe he died a good man.

Take care Try and Stay Calm Stay Home and Be 
Safe and Keep Others Safe 

Read the last of Salinger’s Nine Stories entitled Teddy which 
makes these same points in a much more contemporary 
fashion. Recently I reread the story and it seemed right on. 


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com