Like most parents trying to downsize the toy department of their house, I gave away many of my children's outgrown books. One of the select few I saved for my grandchildren has the above title. It is the story of the cascade of unintended consequences caused by a little bug sneezing. At the end, all the involved people and animals bumble into a circus parade in town--"And that started something they'll never forget. And as far as I know, it is going on yet." Kind of like a kid version of chaos theory, using a bug sneeze instead of a butterfly's wing. Here's my version:
Because a tiny, Covid bug went around--
businesses everywhere had to lock down.
Because of that lock down, some closed for good
and many wage earners became unemployed.
Because of less jobs, government sent more money.
and that had a consequence no one finds funny.
Because some get as much watching TV in bed,
they don't look for jobs, they just stay home instead.
Because of few workers, more businesses died
or cut back their hours, which is slow suicide.
Because they cut back, they can't make up their loss.
Covid got better, but life still got worse.
And because of these problems, and not paying rent,
and stimulus checks meant to pay bills, are spent,
bankruptcies and foreclosures await many yet.
And my toddler granddaughters are now deep in debt.
When working remotely caused people to move
away from the cities to places we love,
the cost of rentals and homes went up so,
that lower paid workers have no place to go--
(except maybe states that support Uncle Joe).
So we didn't run into a circus parade,
but Covid passed through and its side effects stayed.
And that's how it happened, problems still abound
because, just because, Covid bug went around.
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