Please stop by my window
My office looks out on Second Street and I can see what once was the main commercial corner of our community.
Two banks and two big retail stores once stood at the corner of Yazoo and Second.
I came to Clarksdale less than a year ago. Moving into this office was a treat and I promptly cluttered it up with the papers and projects that plague my business.
A summer, fall, holiday season, winter and now corona virus have all passed before this window.
I am still young enough to love spring. I look forward to watching my first Mississippi Delta spring from my window on the world.
What I see
I think the people who are terrified of the coronavirus have a valid point. I also think those cooler heads who look at the numbers and observe the facts of our situation stand on solid ground, too.
Did you know that at this time last year the Mississippi State Department of Health reported 580 cases of “Influenza like illnesses” in one week. That was down from the 744 cases the week of March 16 and that was down from the 965 cases on March 9.
I’m still looking for how many cases of flu Coahoma County had last year. I bet it was more than the 11 we have today.
And I know what you are thinking . . . no, we haven’t come to the end of this yet.
But will we ever?
The Spanish flu that killed 500 million worldwide in 1918-19 broke out in the spring and came back the following fall.
Now before you lock your doors even tighter and buy another gross of toilet paper, please remember healthcare and medicine have changed a lot in 100 years.
Folks, my two main concerns from Day One still weigh heavy on my heart -- the health and safety of my mother, wife and boys and the health and safety of my business.
The market
What happens on Wall Street affects things on Main Street.
I used to drink coffee with some pretty market savvy guys, but the coronavirus has stopped that.
But prior to that sabbatical we sat at the table and talked. They routinely got calls each morning as this disease dawned, updating them on the market’s latest developments.
Some talked about shorting the market and making big bucks. Some talked about investing in healthcare, food companies and those segments of the market that would be in high demand. Some talked of selling clothes and some talked of selling bullets. I watched my 401K shrivel.
Take a look at the picture. Do I look like a millionaire?
I also watched the people who took my order, cooked my breakfast and brought my food to the table on the last day my coffee shop was open.
This disease of fear has hurt them more than any disease of a virus ever will.
Come on Clarksdale, let’s get up out of the sick bed and get back to work.
The fishbowl
If you work in the newspaper business you live in a fishbowl and the world sees what you write, believe and the life you live.
I got pulled over by the cops Tuesday night. Yes, it was in downtown Clarksdale, in front of the Coahoma County Courthouse. It was late and I was on my way home from work.
They were enforcing “The State’s” new curfew. I followed the drill and there were no problems.
My new concern is what Clarkdale, Mississippi and this country becomes after coronavirus goes away.
So stop by my window, tell me your concerns, you can talk to me without the fear of contamination. I even encourage you to just drive by and honk.
Every person in this town needs your contact, we need your business and we need your support to survive this disease.
Clarksdale, life has not stopped. The problem as I see it -- from my humble window at 128 East Second Street -- is some people have stopped living it.
Floyd Ingram is the Editor of your Clarksdale Press Register. The most sanitary form of contact during the coronavirus scare is to call him at 662-627-2201 .
