Carolyn Cooper | Laughter is still the best medicine

In times like these we need the Bible. That’s a definite throwback to my distant Seventh-Day Adventist youth. It’s comforting to recall the wisdom of the book of Proverbs Chapter 17, Verse 22, King James Version. “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones”.

Admittedly, we simply can’t laugh away coronavirus. We have to take all the prescribed precautions to protect ourselves. But some of them just don’t make much sense. How are passengers on public transportation going to be able to practise social distancing? Or even in a private vehicle? All the same, we cannot allow ourselves to get caught up in a frenzy of fear.

There’s a technical term for the transfer of emotions, both negative and positive, from one individual to the next. It’s “emotional contagion”. In times of crisis, this contagion can become a widespread psychological virus. Panic shopping and hoarding are classic signs of emotional contagion. Sigal Barsade, a management professor at the Wharton business school, warns that, “emotional contagion, unless we get a hold of it, is going to greatly amplify the damage caused by COVID-19”.

GREAT SOCIAL LEVELLER

We really do have to tek bad tings mek joke. Stress attacks our immune system and makes us even more vulnerable to disease. Big up the writer of these humorous lyrics about Corona! The DJ sounds like Majah Hype but I’m not sure:

“Mi love every woman in di worl

Di girls dem pretty like

diamonds an pearl,

But a one gyal mi no want

Corona a look mi but mi no want her

So anybody see her tell her stay far”.

Fun and jokes aside, the coronavirus has radically altered the whole world. It’s the great social leveller. The so-called First World is no different from the supposedly underdeveloped world. Toilet paper is sold out in Germany. Emotional contagion again! We still have a fairly good supply here. I have friends from Germany who are planning to take toilet paper home when they leave next week.

Many privileged First-World citizens don’t know about efficient alternatives to toilet paper. South African comedian Trevor Noah, host of the satirical Daily Show, recently announced that when he was growing up, he sometimes used newspaper as a substitute for toilet paper. Me too! Considering some of the crap that circulates in newsprint, this may be a far better use of newspaper. A wicked joke on WhatsApp was posted by a man who claimed that he had drawn for newspaper so often that now his bottom can read much better than many people.

NO ELECTION FOR NOW

On a serious note, the coronavirus is likely to affect the timing of the general election. On that score, we really need to change our arbitrary practice and set a fixed date for elections. The whims of the ruling party should not determine the date. In any case, political campaigning in this pandemic would be suicidal. There can’t be crowds of supporters at rallies.

Rumour had it that the general election was going to be called in May. The headline of a Gleaner article published on March 4 reported, ‘Holness a fool if he doesn’t call election now – Chang’. Kevin O’Brien Chang made that recommendation in response to a Don Anderson poll confirming the extremely low rating of the People’s National Party (PNP).

Chang argued that if the coronavirus was declared a pandemic this would have a negative impact on the Jamaica Labour Party’s chances for re-election. Chang proved to be rather shortsighted. By March 10, the first coronavirus cases were confirmed in Jamaica. And on March 11, the World Health Organization declared that the virus was, indeed, a pandemic. There is no time to call a general election “now”. That ship has sailed.

At a JLP Area Council Three meeting in January, Andrew Holness made it clear that he’s no fool: “A hear a whole heap a people talking about election as if is dem going call di day. Yu know. A see man already gone to di starting line, yu know, ready to tek off. But let me assure Jamaica that this government is not going to put politics over the national interest.

“At this present point in time, it is in the nation’s interest to maintain the stability that exists. It is in the nation’s interest to have the economic programmes continued and anchored in a budget.

Wi don’t want to disturb those things. Wi work too hard to get here. So a lot of people saying, ‘Call it now, man! Call it now, man’! Remember, now, we still have the duty of the national interest and a lot of work still to be done”.

Holness must keep his word and prioritise the fight against the coronavirus in the national interest.

The screening of passengers coming on international flights and cruise ships must be constantly improved. The tourism dollar is certainly not worth the ravaging of Jamaica. And, instead of panicking, we should remember the promise of our fatalistic proverb, “If yu born fi heng, yu cyaah drown”.

- Carolyn Cooper, PhD, is a specialist on culture and development. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and karokupa@gmail.com