Well, here we are. This is a small sample of what I have always feared. Society has a tendency of destroying itself over panic. Its kind of like the old tale of the man who had a heart attack from being surprised by a snake. Turns out the snake was just a rope. The rope snake story reminds me of what we are seeing today in that people are freaking out over something they do not even understand yet and something that hasn't shown its true face yet.
The trip that I won to Puerto Rico has been postponed due to the virus so I decided I would go out with my recently purchased X100V to document my surroundings. This wasn't what I had envisioned I'd be doing with my new camera. I was dreaming of 80 degree beaches, colorful buildings, people dancing in the streets, and iguanas stealing my snacks. Instead............I'm using it to document this subtle controlled panic that you can feel out in the public.
On the bright side, I really appreciate how stealthy the X100V is. The leaf shutter is so quite that you can't hear it from much past 4 or 5 feet. The camera (in black) can be hidden very well behind your hands and fingers making it great for street and documentary style photography. People have no idea you are taking a photo of them unless you are bringing the camera up to your face in a more traditional sense. The new tilt screen makes for a very well played version of "Oh, that guy is just fiddling with his phone or whatever it is he has in his hands". Little do they know.....you just unleashed 26mp and captured the scene with the best color science available!
Ok, enough with the camera nerd talk. Back to business here. There is a beautiful contrast of panic and compassion out there currently. Although the hoards of people have taken products they don't need, I witnessed two different acts of kindness on my ventures today. The first one was an elderly lady with a cart full of what appeared to be only the essentials. A woman and young girl walked to her and asked if she needed help loading her items into the car. She accepted and they loaded it up for her. The second event was when I was in line to pay for a single item I had purchased. A veteran who had 2 carts of stuff asked me if I wanted to skip in front of him since he had so much stuff. I declined and went over the the self checkout, but I appreciate him asking.
Amid the chaos there is still good going on in the world. My only advice would be this. Don't focus on the negative. It won't make the negative disappear but it will make your day to day life make more sense. You may see an empty shelf and think, "Look at that. All those jerks taking what they don't need". This is true to an extent. There is also the old lady who got her share and also has people helping her out. There is the old veteran who can't walk well with his share and is willing to stand longer to let someone in front of him. There is always bad in the world but there is always good as well. It is your choice to pick a side. Just like in photography, the world is contrast.
When things crumble around you.......don't be the hammer........be the glue -KP
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