Folks consumed with fear and stress over the COVID 19 disease pandemic… along with social distancing struggles… are waiting for the other shoe to drop.  

This is a good time to pause and reflect on controlling fear and decision driving cues… the phrase, waiting for another shoe to drop, comes from “turn of the century’ factory work folks who commonly wore steel toed shoes...   When arriving in their tenement home after work… they’d remove their first shoe…tossing it to the floor with a booming plop… Startled… the awakened neighbor below waited with baited breath for the second shoe to drop… when it did… anxious anticipation was replaced by instant relaxation… causing the relieved apartment abutter to fall back asleep … knowing the sound would stop…

Shoe Drop Anticipation normally exists as anxious speculation about what lays ahead imagining dangers that makes us tense… SARS Coronavirus 2 significantly adds to this reality by fueling unresolved worries encouraged by mass media projections about employment security, personal and family health, medicine and food availability, even predictions about individual statistical mortality… all serving to block… making practical decision-making sense.  

When it comes to Shoe Drop Anticipation and coronavirus concerns there’s more to a story than a shoe hitting the floor… with stitched leather that breaks a snore… A virus we cannot see… should never control our dignity… It’s a funny feeling to know… when we face  viral adversity with trust, prevention, cooperation, and calm… NOT losing sleep over shoe drop worry… is a priceless medicine… against any avoidable harm…

Copyright Alan P. Xenakis, MD, Doc X MD and Audra RN Funny Feelings  Air Date 0/324-26/20