We are living in interesting times. The world is working at getting rid of COVID-19. There have been more that four and a half millions deaths world wide due to this virus, with the USA still leading the death rate.

This got me thinking again to The Black Plague. When we look back at the 1300s, they suffered a devastating plague. It is usually considered to be the worst disaster in history. The Black Death lasted from about 1346-1353, and about 25 million people died, more than a third of the population of Europe. The disease probably developed in the far east and travelled to Europe on ships. The place the ships landed was Messina. Rats have been blamed for spreading the disease, as it seemed the rats carried things such as fleas which spread the disease. At that time, there was no cure or treatment. Now at least we have scientists working on cures.  A few years prior to the plague, much of the world was hit with a famine that lasted from 1315-1317. Famine was not uncommon, but this time period seemed to be pretty devastating. So, compared to the fourteen-century we have things to be thankful for. Not all was bad, as some interesting things seem to have happened in the last couple of years. A lot more food companies seem to be advertising that they are using things like Canadian beef in their products. I think some of them already were, but they weren’t really advertising it.

(Disclaimer!)  These are the opinions of a sweet little old lady and not the magazine or Newsfeed site. One of the more interesting things has been the way different politicians have been acting since the pandemic began. PM Trudeau was late getting into action. While we knew that the COVID-19 virus was on its way, the PM sent protective equipment to China. When we bought some from China, it couldn’t be used because it was defective. We also learned that Canada has not kept the supply of protective equipment up to par to where it is supposed to be. That’s why we had a shortage of critical equipment when it was needed most. Click here for information on this.

The PM also seemed to think that jumping in with an emergency fund programs such as CERB would win him the love of Canadians. It was good that money was available for those who needed it. Then it came out (surprise, surprise) that people who weren’t entitled were also getting it. The government said that that would be taken care of later. Was it? We didn’t seem to hear any more about it.

I’m among those seniors who have a pension so my income didn’t change and I wasn’t losing money. There are seniors who depend on Canada Pension and Old Age Security for their income. This is less than what people were getting on CERB. Over the whole time of COVID-19, the government gave seniors a one-time payment of $300.00. For those of us with a good pension, we didn’t need it. I don’t know how much help it was for those trying to live on the CPP and OAS.

I have lots more to say but I can do it next month.

Happy Fall and Halloween.

About the Author

Linda Calder is a retired teacher. She likes to write and enjoys spending time with her family. She also enjoys going on cruises, taking pictures and scrapbooking.