Transmission - what it means today

The word "transmission" could spark different thoughts in each of us. To me, it signifies transmission of electromagnetic waves from transmitter to receiver like in a radio or television, or Tx and Rx of packets from sender to receiver, also known as source to destination, in networks.

Today is the 18th of May and is significant to me because it is my grandfather's birthday. He was a big source of transmission of knowledge, life lessons and values to me. It is also the anniversary of Ian Curtis of Joy Division's passing, which brings the song "Transmission" to the forefront.

Transmission, as we are painfully aware of in today's world, refers to transmission of the virus from person to person, or community spread, the thing that the whole world is working on to combat. Transmission also brings to mind motor vehicle transmission to me, something my grandfather was passionate about. We happen to be working on getting one of our old cars operational again this week in time for a drive for my husband's birthday. It's another one of those examples of how everything in life is intertwined and related.

As for me, I am going to listen to Transmission by Joy Division on full blast, to try to drown out some of the voices of dissent for the world's lockdown, and focus on work today. I'm going to work on transmission of telemetry data. I hope to restart my yoga and go for a drive in honor of my grandfather. I am not going to stress about when I do it, but I know I will get to it soon. I suppose with this, I'll hit all modes of transmission this week.

About the lockdown, I still believe it was the right thing to do and for the most part was implemented well. I even believe it should continue until the testing and tracing is in place. I agree with how our governor Gavin Newsom has handled the crisis so far. My stressors are for the people that complain about it, and are not worrying about containing the virus. The ones that will go out without any precautions and put hundreds of others in harm's way. I shake my head at people's view of "freedom". It is almost as if people are fighting for their freedom to go out and get infected. They complain about not being able to buy clothes, not being able to eat at restaurants, and claim to want to support local businesses but are actually just bored. All of a sudden, mental health is becoming important to those who dismissed it before. They organize protests and petitions to protect our kids' mental health by doing drive by car parades, and give them the prom and graduation experience they deserve...aren't there other ways of taking care of our teenagers' and all of our mental health, that do not involve large gatherings?

At the core of all this, many are are realizing that their choice of place to live and their choice of profession is not compatible with the pandemic. They rant against the lockdowns, thinking that if only the lockdown is lifted they could have their old lives again. They regret shunning those "office jobs" in place of pursuing a freelance job. Their small businesses are sadly not sustainable during this time, and they are turning back to IT or office jobs that they don't enjoy. They are mad at "techies" for having those jobs...never mind that the tech industry is what is enabling the world to work from home, and remain connected through it all, even giving those very same people a platform to rant on. Besides, many "techies" put in decades of study and work to build these products, and often live in VHCOL areas with its own set of financial worries. Who is to say if this is temporary and those small businesses can thrive again, leading to a happy set of people? Who knows where the corporate world is headed? We don't even know how temporary or permanent these changes are going to be.

Many people think they are the only group who are wronged and want to "open up the economy". Sure, allowing people to shop, attend religious services, have social gatherings and eat at restaurants during a pandemic will definitely restore incomes to pre-pandemic levels. Not. How about we acknowledge that all of our professions are important? That we need small businesses, freelance jobs, the tech industry, construction, artists, retail, the service industry, as well as several more, to remain a fully functioning society? Besides, within every industry, there is such a broad range of people in it.

The feelings are real but the current state of affairs is just so unfortunate. I don't think that those who seem to be "less affected" are really privileged or spared from all this, to be honest. All of us worked towards and made choices that have landed us in perhaps differing circumstances. But even as well situated as a person may appear, they may still be affected by the virus or the pandemic in devastating ways. My hope is that everyone focuses on how we can actually contain the virus, and get from one day to the next as a society.

For today though, please listen to this song below very, very loud. Thank you!

Transmission - Joy Division

Radio, live transmission
Radio, live transmission
Listen to the silence, let it ring on
Eyes, dark grey lenses, frightened of the Sun

We would have a fine time living in the night
Left to blind destruction, waiting for our sight
We would go on as though nothing was wrong
Hide from these days, we remained all alone

Staying in the same place, just staying out the time
Touching from a distance, further all the time

Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio