{"id":225,"date":"2020-07-21T08:40:18","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T08:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/?p=225"},"modified":"2020-07-21T08:53:32","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T08:53:32","slug":"what-would-jerry-garcia-say-about-covid-the-virus-is-the-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2020\/07\/what-would-jerry-garcia-say-about-covid-the-virus-is-the-boss.html","title":{"rendered":"What Would Jerry Garcia Say about COVID? “The Virus is the Boss.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last weekend, I watched the Grateful Dead documentary, \u201cLong Strange Trip.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

After tour manager Sam Cutler left the band in 1974, the band\u2019s founder Jerry Garcia, anti-authoritarian to the core, who detested the role of \u201cboss,\u201d steadfastly refused to acknowledge himself as the band\u2019s leader.<\/p>\n

At that point in the film, director Amir Bar-Lev<\/a> asked, \u201cSo who was in charge?\u201d<\/p>\n

Former roadie Steve Parish<\/a> answered, \u201cWell, I\u2019m so glad you asked that, because I came up with this, man.\u201d Whenever anyone \u2013 media, venue owners, cops, or anyone else \u2013 would demand to know who was in charge of the band, Parish would say: \u201cthe situation is the boss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parish continued, \u201cThere were times when I was in charge of everything. There were times when Jerry was in charge of everything. Then, at another time, it would be someone else. \u2026 Then, it would be a truck that had a blown carburetor. That carburetor was the boss at that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter who thinks they\u2019re in charge when the carburetor blows. At that point, the carburetor controls everybody\u2019s time and attention.<\/p>\n

Why isn\u2019t the truck moving? Ask the carburetor.<\/p>\n

How long are we going to be stuck here? Ask the carburetor.<\/p>\n

Once the carburetor is fixed, then a new boss takes over.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation is the boss\u201d<\/a> became the band\u2019s mantra.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Jerry Garcia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I reflected on that conversation between the film\u2019s director and the band\u2019s former roadie, I marveled at the wisdom. \u201cThe situation is the boss \u2026<\/em>Isn\u2019t that how life goes?\u201d\u00a0<\/em>I thought to myself.\u00a0\u201cIsn\u2019t it true for all of us?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I recall some years ago \u2013 the very morning I was to start a new management job \u2013 my son threw up all over my bed. My son\u2019s vomit was the boss when it woke me up, then within the hour my new job was the boss.<\/p>\n

Last week, my cat brought a live mouse into the house and dropped it in the middle of the living room. For the next ten minutes, that mouse was the boss.<\/p>\n

And today, with an impending book deadline next month, you can be sure that looming deadline is my boss.<\/p>\n

When a Category 5 hurricane is barreling toward the Gulf Coast, certainly we\u2019d all agree that the hurricane is the boss.<\/p>\n

When devastating wildfires ravaged California last year, it was clear that the wildfires were the boss.<\/p>\n

And as the COVID-19 pandemic ravages our country, on course to kill a couple hundred thousand of us, the whole world can see that the virus is the boss.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump is not the boss \u2013 no matter how he blusters and bullies.<\/p>\n

The GOP is not the boss \u2013 no matter how confidently they say it\u2019s fine for kids to go back to school this Fall.<\/p>\n

The anti-mask crowd is not the boss \u2013 no matter how loudly they bellow \u201cYou can\u2019t tell me what to do!\u201d<\/p>\n

Nope, none of them are the boss.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re not the boss and I\u2019m not the boss.<\/p>\n

The virus is the boss \u2026 and will be for many months to come.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s only when everyone\u00a0<\/em>understands that the virus is the boss \u2013 and acts accordingly \u2013 that we can begin to make progress toward restoring our health and rebuilding our economy.<\/p>\n

#thevirusistheboss<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last weekend, I watched the Grateful Dead documentary, \u201cLong Strange Trip.\u201d After tour manager Sam Cutler left the band in 1974, the band\u2019s founder Jerry Garcia, anti-authoritarian to the core, who detested the role of \u201cboss,\u201d steadfastly refused to acknowledge himself as the band\u2019s leader. At that point in the film, director Amir Bar-Lev asked,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":434,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[240,222,219,234,237,243,225,231,228,246],"class_list":["post-225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anti-maskers","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-donald-trump","tag-face-mask","tag-pandemic","tag-quarantine","tag-shutdown","tag-social-distancing"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Would Jerry Garcia Say about COVID? 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