WHO WANTS TO TRAVEL?

            Faithful readers know that last evening I was supposed to fly to Sweden to do a 4-day Masterclass with regenerative agriculture guru Richard Perkins at his Ridgedale Farm.  We searched for requirements and found only two:  a letter from the host describing the need to be there in person and N95 surgical grade mask for flying.  I had those two things.

             When I went to check-in, the agent pulled it up and asked me if I had 4 things:

 1.  Letter from the Swedish Embassy saying I was Covid-compliant (what does that mean?)

 2.  Letter from my doctor saying I was not a Covid carrier (I've been to the doctor once in 40 years).

 3.  Plans for a mandatory 2-week quarantine upon arrival.

 4.  Government-issued work visa.

             I just started laughing.  I didn't have any of those things.  I asked her why none of this was in the ticket purchasing information and she said this all happened to another guy the day before who was traveling to Sweden.  She said the airlines have special software built in to protect them from having travelers stranded (due to immigration snafus).

             I asked her where the central repository was to find out all this stuff and she had no clue.  She did say they would refund my ticket price.  Well, we'll see about that because when we had to switch from going into Oslo to Stockholm, they would not refund half of it.  It's beginning to look like entrapment:  what a nice racket.  The airline sells you a ticket, then won't let you get on the plane, and then fights you on the reimbursement. 

             These requirements change almost daily; one is due to change Aug. 31.    As I've contemplated this situation, it has made me think about prohibitions.  Pop-up social gatherings are in the news as people try to bring a semblance of humanity back into their lives.  New evidence indicates that anytime an area reaches about 20 percent Covid saturation, it burns out and goes elsewhere.

             Think about the direct predictions, from 2 million certain deaths (if everyone had followed Andrew Cuomo's leadership, we may have actually achieved the 2 million mark) to overrun hospitals to the urban mobs creating so many deaths we'd be piling up bodies in the streets to homeless folks will die (they haven't and aren't).  Goodness, we've been fed nothing but lies from the experts but people still cower in fear, which is the first big step in control.  If you can't get people afraid, you can't control them.

             I felt incredibly controlled yesterday.  Interestingly, the gate agent was not and did not wear a mask, even though all signage said everyone in the airport had to wear one.  Furthermore, the baggage guy who came through the counter area was not wearing a mask.  I wanted to rip mine off--if they can't, I won't either.  Remember how you felt when two people misbehaved in gym class and the teacher didn't know who it was so made everyone run 5 laps?  Remember how unfair that felt?  That's the way this all feels to me.

             Alcohol prohibition created all sorts of work-arounds.  Will travel, movement, and apparel prohibitions do the same today?  Could farm havens become the new safety valve to relieve socialization pressure?

             Do you feel trapped?