So yesterday I presented myself, dapperly dressed and well-groomed,
at the reception desk of an aerospace company near L.A. for a scheduled
meeting. The kind lady behind the large,
pink glasses asked if I had an appointment: Yes. Had I ever been signed in: No. So
I was instructed to follow the prompts for signing in on an IPad-like device; I
was requested to smile at the center of the screen for a photo (why did I feel
like I was at the DMV getting my license photo), then I was presented with a
company visitor badge suspended on a bright red lanyard (the symbolism was “caution...
stranger danger!”) with my photo attached.
I was then directed to sit in a fake leather chair to wait for the
person I was scheduled to meet.
A minute or so later, the pink-glassed lady (she looked like
she lived in Venice Beach) summonsed me back to the desk: “Here, I have something you need to fill out,”
she said as she pushed a piece of paper in my direction with a blank stare.
It was odd… it seemed like it was a 9x6 inch piece of paper,
not sure why it wasn’t a standard 5x7 or 8x10.
Maybe they were pinching pennies to make up losses on large CEO
compensation. I looked at the printing: I had to squint because the printing seemed
to be faded on the page – it wasn’t a crisp black, more a faded gray (it didn’t
seem fitting for such a company).
Anyway, here are the questions I remember:
1 . When was the last time you visited China? I had to think about that…. 1983? (Did that really matter or were they looking
for Asian spies?)
2 . Have you visited China in the last fourteen
days? (Ah, now I know where this was
headed!)
3 . Have you received any packages from China in the
last sixty days? (Amazon Prime, anyone?)
4 . Do you live with anyone who has visited China in
the last sixty days? mmmmm….
5 . Do you anticipate visiting China in the next
sixty day? (That seems like none of your business.)
6 . Have you associated or worked with anyone who
has visited China in the last sixty days?
7 .
Do you have any medical issues, including a
fever, cough or other symptoms which you have noticed in the last month? (Wow… sounds like HIPA violation to reveal
medical information.)
I think there were a couple other highly probing questions
but due to my age I can’t remember them.
Look, here’s the thing:
Right now, there are 15 cases of the coronavirus in the United States… and most of them we have airlifted
here to California from China. (Can’t
make it up.)
The hype surrounding this is crazy to watch: Here in San Diego, two or three are under quarantine
at a local hospital. One was released accidentally; then the person was put back in quarantine… just in case. (Hope he or she isn’t a “supper spreader.”) An
Asian kid was beat up in San Fran because he was suspected of being Chinese and
because of his ethnicity, surely a carrier.
And the China Lunar New Year parade has been cancelled out of caution.
Did you see, a bunch of detainees were released the other day near Riverside,
CA after fourteen days in quarantine and they threw their face masks into the
air like a graduation ceremony? Then
they were told, “Maybe the incubation period is 24 days, not 14 days.” And an epidemiologist just said airport
screenings “aren’t that valuable.”
So the craziness continues – even
at a local business! Is every business
going to do health screening just to allow the public to enter? Imagine your local grocery store screening
everyone coming in to buy chickens.
Still find it crazy an aerospace needed to do health screening to enter
their premises. (Next, they will be
asking who I like… Bernie, Amy, Andrew, Tom, Mayor Pete or Joe?)
One question they didn’t ask me on the questionnaire: “Do you eat Chinese food?” Thank goodness they didn’t ask: I had just finished eating lunch at Panda Express
