Alarm fatigue is where we are in the curve of the Pandemic. We have been exposed to a large number of frequent alarms/alerts and consequently can become sensitized to them.
Normally this is associated with patient safety, where there are false or clinically irrelevant alarms. But here we are: many weeks into the constant alarms of staying inside, social distancing, gloves, and masks and we are experiencing the same stresses as health workers. I wonder how this might change an entire population's social fabric.
Another expert has given this a new name - moral fatigue - where we are barred from making the appropriate moral choice by existing rules or policies, or we have to deal with a new set of moral choices and not able to rely on habits and existing patterns.
The result is the same for both alarm fatigue and moral fatigue: exhaustion. And this results in being less attentive to the needed activities like washing hands, social distancing, and so on. And if we think we might get used to the new rules, there are even more new rules coming out.
What's the latest alarm? As patio season is about to open: don't use the restaurant bathrooms. Don't share condiments.
This is a pandemic that will be remembered for bathroom activities.
Our beautiful swan today lives at Whistling Gardens. He is one of the two swans there - both are named Brutus.
Swans or Squabs? That's what would be a-swimming today in our 12 Days of Christmas. Through the many years of variations, it is dominantly seven swans a-swimming with only one version in 1900 of squabs a-swimming. This doesn't make much sense as 'squabs' are pigeons, and they don't swim.
Squab in culinary terms is a young domestic pigeon, typically under four weeks old. They have been raised commercially in North America since the early 1900s. It is remarkable given that they are fed by both parents until four weeks old, so one keeps pairs of pigeons to produce squabs. A pair can produce 15 squabs a year. This used to be the staple of Chinese-American restaurants, but industrial chicken has taken over. Squab is still is part of Chinese holiday banquets, such as Chinese New Year.
As time has gone by, squab has become a specialty item and is served in haute cuisine restaurants by celebrity chefs. "Squab at Alinea" in Chicago, an acclaimed restaurant, is one of the courses in a 14 course tasting menu. Or how about the Old Homestead restaurant in New York City. It offered a four person meal for $8,750 a person and one course included squab alongside the turkey. This was in 2015. And Now Magazine in Toronto covered T.O.'s top 5 game dishes and there was Pigeon Pie (Squab) at Borealia. The article covers game dishes including quail, rabbit, Ontario venison, and game meat sausages.
Our year concludes today and we count anew tomorrow. Here are two images of Jordan Valley from yesterday's walk - they represent the sunset of one year and the new dawn of the next.
