General Tso's Chicken. It's one of the tastiest foods you can order at a Chinese take out place, but it is neither healthy, nor is it Chinese in origin. Several years ago, Jennifer 8 Lee gave a Ted Talk regarding the origins of this dish. And her talk gave me new insights into the origins of "Chinese Food" in America.
When I want comfort food from a Chinese take out place, General Tso's Chicken is one of the dishes I usually will order. Lately, most places have been turning down the heat on this dish, as most Americans like bland food. As for me, I usually want strong flavors in my food, save when I'm eating slowly and for taste. Then, I want the subtleties in a dish's flavors to come out without assaulting me.
Today was one of those days I wanted some Chinese comfort food. And you can easily guess what I ordered. It was a good excuse to get showered and dressed for the first time in a couple of days. Given that the pandemic will shut down California in the next few days (as I write this), I expect that New York will soon follow their lead. That means that I'll have to enjoy getting out now, while I can still do so.
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Before things started getting shut down, Andrew Sullivan mentioned Camus' "The Plague" in his blog. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to read this book before everything shut down in March. So I put the book on hold, and waited until I could get it from my local library. Towards the beginning of May, the library reopened. But it was not business as usual. One had to put all book requests on hold, and once available, pick up these books on a table inside the library's vestibule. No one was being allowed to enter the library, save for the people who worked there. After reading the book, I started to understand why my reactions to my ex (and she towards me) were so magnified. More importantly, I started to understand why some people were likely to suffer pandemic fatigue - after a point, people stop feeling that they have any control over their lives.
After a summer and fall which allowed us to socialize with some degree of normalcy, it looks like the second wave of the pandemic is going to be worse than the first wave. Before, the effects of the pandemic were limited to a handful of states. Now, the pandemic is nationwide, with the worst effects in states who acted as if the pandemic was God's curse on the "Liberal" states. Although there is a part of me that is enjoying a form of Schadenfreude, seeing many of the "Deep Red" states suffer as we did in the Tri-state area, I'd rather that no one go through what we went through in the spring. There are people I know who couldn't get essential health care because hospitals were flooded with Covid-19 patients. No one should endure that.
I figure that most of us will be staying isolated until sometime in April, when things have started to warm up and vaccinations are being given to the general population. By that time, the general populace of this country will start receiving their vaccinations. Will the rest of the nation behave in ways described in Camus' novel? One thing I know, take out restaurants will still be allowed to function, and I will still be able to get my General Tso's Chicken.
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