Living in cornavirusworld 41: This is your last warning

5/3

Mister Softee to the rescue

The highlight of the day is our weekly  family get together on ZOOM. The joy of seeing my grandchildren,  As Germany reopens, my son is beginning to think about the the tension  between civil liberties and pubic safety . And how our different contexts can produce different responses to that question. No matter where we live ,we need to be aware of ani-democratic forces who would use the virus to expand their powers and  diminish  civil liberties. One can imagine the layers of security that will be called for after. Added layers of airport security, for example..It’s easy imagining an organized country like Germany, having come out of national quarantine, not wanting  to admit visitors from  a chaotic  country like the US with it s lack of testing and tracking.

Time for a late afternoon visit to Jackie Robinson Park to visit with another friend. It's hard maintaining social distance sometimes. It’s changing us. But good to see each other in the flesh, covered as it is.  As I leave, I hear the sound of the Mister Softee truck. Children come running. (I check to see if I have any dollars, and I don’t.) A little guy stumbles leaving the truck, his soft serve hitting the street. Before he can even  start to cry, the Mister Softee man calls him back for a fresh cone.

Back home, the 115th street floating craps game is back on, just up the street from me. There is a mask or two among the players. No gloves for throwing of the hot dice.

Later, inside my apartment, I hear the bull horn from a police car threatening, “This is your last warning. Move further apart, now. This story last warning.” I will hear that several times as the night wears on. There are already videos circulating of police violence against people of color over social distance violations. None of the videos come from Central Park or Bryant or Madison Park  or the West Village. They are all from the collective hood in its various  manifestations. I think of our earlier conversation. Forces of repression will use this moment as a cover to do what they’ve always wanted to do. ‘This is your last warning.”

Late at night. I hear a sound, look outside. The craps game has moved to right outside my  window.

This is  your last warning ….