It is a quiet afternoon. Today is Tuesday, September 30. I just came in from a lovely lunch with a friend. And then I turned on the television, just in time for a news alert.
Many of the medical experts involved with the announcement of the first Ebola case diagnosed this morning in the U.S. are being questioned by the news media. And I have to wonder if this is a moment that will go down in history as a determining factor in the country’s future?
Could this be a Black Swan event, a term traditionally related to financial matters, yet also described as an event that deviates beyond what is normally expected, or a situation that is extremely difficult to predict?
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Our country will be going to the polls within the next few weeks. Political seers have spoken of an “October surprise.” Polls have already been taken by both political parties. Neither could have predicted a “wild card” or the introduction of fear into the . However, this may change the scenario for all involved. A random and unexpected event that causes everyone in our country to stop, think and ask “Why?”
Will it go down in my memory bank like the day I returned from ice skating in Central Park on December 7, 1941?
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Will it be like the morning I had the phone call from Caracas informing me of my husband’s heart attack?
Will it be like the morning of September 11, 2001?
Will it be like the morning of September 7, 2008 when the young doctor phoned me from the hospital to tell me my beloved had left this world?
I have a strange feeling as I listen to this conflicted news conference. One medical expert has just contradicted the other. Perhaps neither knows the definitive answer. The questions ricochet into the eerie atmosphere.
“Do you expect the patient to remain in Texas?”
“Can any hospital in this country handle Ebola?”
“Will the deadly virus spread to other patients in the hospital?”
“Has the virus spread to other passengers on the airplane or in the airports?”
“Can you tell us a little bit more? How many contacts must be reached?”
So many questions. And one very important one. “If Kenya Airlines, Korean Airlines, British Airlines and Air France suspended flights to infected countries, why hasn’t our government done so?”
But there are no answers that adequately lessen the anxieties.
The stark reality is that September 30, 4014 may become another date that will be embedded in my memory bank along with the obvious question of whether or not this could have been avoided.
The upcoming elections may not be determined by Benghazi, the IRS scandals, Obama Care or even the brutal ISIS beheadings. The election decision may be a result of the unexpected arrival of a Black Swan on September 30, 2014 causing the entire nation to ask ”WHY?” And decide whom they believe is to blame in our government.
