JULY/AUGUST 2020 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 123
Right after the coronavirus
was shutting things down,
one of my friends posted,
” There are no sports on TV.
I walked into the living room and
there was a lady sitting on my couch.
Turns out, she’s my wife, and she’s
really very nice.”
I, and a lot of other husbands,
could relate. It’s not that we don’t
get along or haven’t done things
together. It was more like we took
all of that as a matter of course.
Penny and I are in our 54th year together
and we are still talking, sharing vacations
and enjoying our family. Somehow the
appreciation of those things was what we
expected, as we continued to put one foot
in front of the other to march through life.
But COVID-19 has had an effect. Because
of the quarantine, we were together in
a different light. We were having fun
working on some projects together from
planting a garden to moving around
furniture. We also had some long talks
and made some plans for when this virus
thing is back in the box.
We found time to read books that we
had gathered over the years and to watch
some television, which mainly consisted
of movies from back in the day that we
had either not seen, or that we wanted to
see again. There were also phone calls to
friends and family and of course, Zoom.
It became one of my best friends. From
board of directors’ meetings to civic club
talks, we were Zooming all over the place.
I know there was a lot of loss and
heartbreak during this period, and I am
sensitive to that. I also know some good
will come out of it. Even now, I have seen
acts of kindness when I ventured out of
the confines of our home. I also like to
hear that the reason Florida did not have
the projected case numbers is because
Floridians reacted early to self-isolate.
It is going to be a different world in
many ways. For instance, companies
have learned that meetings can be held
by conferencing over the internet, which
cuts out travel time and/or food and hotel
expenses. Many of us were forced to learn
new technology that we never thought
we would need to use. I believe we
will be more cognizant of health
and well-being and that masks may
become the accepted norm, even
at banks.
I am forever an optimist and
believe we will come out of this
better than before. I am also
thankful to be in the Tampa Bay
area, if we must go through this,
because I cannot think of any place
nicer to be confined. We took some
of our family to New York City for
the Thanksgiving Day Parade, and all I can
think about is how the people living there
don’t have the beautiful weather we enjoy
here. Maybe the coronavirus has forced
us to appreciate our surroundings more.
I firmly believe when all of this is over
and things improve, we will live differently
on several levels, but we will be better
overall. I guess the best thing for me has
been finding that lady on the couch. She
really IS very nice! 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dick Crippen, a staple
in Tampa Bay broadcasting for more than 40
years, is a senior adviser for the Tampa Bay
Rays, and works extensively with the military.
He is active in the world of charity fundraising
and sits on numerous boards for nonprofit
organizations.
COMMENTARY
SHE’S VERY NICE!
By Dick Crippen
Dick Crippen