“The 2 Other Viruses Going Around Right Now”: Artist Illustrates The Contagious Behaviors That People Are Falling For
Interview With Artist
A woman at an Australian supermarket allegedly pulls a knife on a man in a fight over toilet paper. A Singaporean student of Chinese ethnicity is beaten up in London, leaving him with a fractured face. Protesters on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion greet cruise passengers by shouting abuse and throwing rocks at them. Reading about such cases can make one think that the coronavirus pandemic is bringing out the worst in people.
Yes, horrible things have been happening. However, for every report on panic and greed, there’s one about hope and brotherhood. And Logan Mickel, the creative mind behind the comic series ‘As Much Good‘ believes we should focus on the latter rather than the former. To illustrate his point, he recently created a strip called The 2 OTHER Viruses Going Around Right Now. It takes a good look at selfishness and compassion — the 2 other viruses — and the effects they have on people during the current global crisis.
Image credits: asmuchgood
The pandemic has Logan working from home now, so the editor and university English teacher is spending much more time with his wife and four kids. “We’ve actually enjoyed our time together–making blanket forts and having sleepovers, having our kids be in charge of dinner,” Logan told Bored Panda, adding that their 8-year-old even made sushi today.
But it has been all good. “It was hard to get milk and bread for a while, but now that people have calmed down a bit and the stores have instituted rules, it isn’t really a problem,” he said. “We’ve also started a garden and bought chickens to become more self-reliant. Even though we live in the suburbs, quite a lot of homes have chickens.”
When it comes to remaining compassionate in the face of such fear and uncertainty, Logan thinks the important thing to remember is that panic can cause even more damage than the emergency itself. “The survival instinct is strong. Once that lizard brain kicks in, it must be checked quickly or an otherwise good person will act irrationally and selfishly,” he said. “We start taking far more than we need, telling ourselves that we have to protect ourselves from ‘those selfish jerks out there.’ We don’t realize that in doing this, we ourselves have become that selfish jerk.”
“Along with that, I think it’s important not to lose faith in others. People will help. For every story of people getting in fights at supermarkets, I’ve heard ten stories of people being awesome to each other (I was only able to put a small fraction in the cartoon). Like Mr. Rogers said, always look for the people helping whenever you see scary news. I still believe that the number of good people in the world greatly outnumbers the bad.”
Like Logan mentioned in the comic, he thinks the real test now is not COVID-19, but our reaction to it. “40 years from now, when your grandkids ask what you did during the coronavirus pandemic, do you want to tell them you were part of the solution, or that you mugged an old woman for her toilet paper at Costco? Let’s live in such a way that our future selves aren’t ashamed of us,” he said.
People absolutely loved the comic
Don't make an assumption that just because someone has a packed cart that they're hoarding. My spouse and I doing the shopping for all of our elderly neighbors, so we frequently have full carts, with a lot of multiples. I know that plenty of other young people are doing the same, or shopping for vulnerable people. Making assumptions about other people's motivations just makes you an a*****e.
Very true. Me, my mom, and my little sister went shopping 2 weeks ago, the store we went to had BARELY ANY meat. We were just walking around when a lady said "here have this. You have children, you'll need it more" it was a big box of ribs. We tried giving it back and she refused. Whoever she is, she's a great person
Know a nurse? Send them a thank you card, or ask when they might want a pizza delivered. Find a neighbor who is afraid to go out and offer to get them groceries. Make some masks and hand them out in your apartment. We're all in this together, more than we ever have been.
Was in the supermarket and there was only 2 4xTin Tomatoes left. I did need some, but I only took one 'cause I'm not a f*****g sociopath.
I don’t think that there are more positive actions going on then negative actions. While positive actions do spread faster than negative actions, there is just so much hoarding and selfishness going on right now. But the illustrator gave the right message, right now we need to spread positivity.
Let us hope that the infection from the compassion virus becomes permanent.
I think this artist is definitely very smart... but you can't judge. Quite a few people who are getting huge amounts of supplies are buying for nursing homes, hospitals, large families, etc. That simple fact makes it much worse that people are being selfish. These people need it more than you need it for your "panic pandemic." My mom and dad have been looking tirelessly for supplies at stores to donate to a local nursing home. The only thing we have been able to donate is two bottles of aloe vera because everyone was panicking and buying everything else. Even still, we are ordering large amounts of fabric and sewing masks for hospitals and the nursing home. Please, do your part to help and don't be greedy or selfish.
Just got off my early shift, and find this. Yes. Please. Make a plate of cookies. (Or buy a packet of them, whatever.) Something. SOmeone bought me a hot chocolate, and while I had to wipe the container off with rubbing alcohol first, it was the BEST thing I've had in weeks... Just b/c someone saw I was struggling more than usual today. COMPASSION! And safety, please.
Why would they go to the store if they aren't going to buy anything? They will get infected with the real virus
I understand the nature of the cartoon but I wasn't surprised (as I am sure most people weren't) to find out how selfish, irresponsible and stupid people have acted in the run-up and during the COVID-19 crisis... there are glimmers of hope (of a return to normalcy in the near future) and that is what is keeping most 'good' people 'decent'.
Wow. that is really true. although Coronavirus is physically there, there is still positivity out there, showing that people can be bad or good. The more good people we have the sooner the real pandemic will end.
These comics are amazing! We can get through this. #QuarantineStrong
Alright so me and my roomie go to the store its a mess and well she needed milk ( shes a single teenage mom) i help her a lot so there was 4 cartons left so i took one and she took 1 but when we were walking to check out a random man came in front of us and asked about the kid and he looked like a hoarder b/c he had a a lot of stuff , but i stayed queit she told them that she felt bad and only took 1 carton (she threw me under too) then he said he would pay for us and then i figured out that he was a really nice guys so we all exchanged numbers ( he had another friend with him lol) and so my friend kept inviting them until me and zach ( his friend ) finally got them to be together forever (zach was gay thankgod ) and she was so happy for someone to help her more with the kid and right now they live together somehow idk , and well the kid had a VERY special connection with this dude
That's weird to just go into marts and watch others constantly. You're putting yourself and others at risk. Which to me is very selfish, all for an internet post
Well done: ethical & moral w/o religiosity, religious w/o labels. This needs to be spread around.... -Dr M
That's exactly the same thing as War Profiteering -- which in theory is illegal (unless you're Don The Cons main asskisser or top donor... or Haliburton... or Betsy DeVos's brother) and he didn't just act "douchey," he cleared out every store he could then tried to inflate the prices astronomically ($8-$70 per bottle). He's being investigated by Tennessee for price gouging, and do you know just how HARD you have to f**k up to get Red State/States Rights people to care about someone else acting badly for money? He's the literal definition of "dead weight," and he'd better hope we all forget about him before the next disaster because his neighbors will probably try to eat him. They just need an excuse.
Load More Replies... Don't make an assumption that just because someone has a packed cart that they're hoarding. My spouse and I doing the shopping for all of our elderly neighbors, so we frequently have full carts, with a lot of multiples. I know that plenty of other young people are doing the same, or shopping for vulnerable people. Making assumptions about other people's motivations just makes you an a*****e.
Very true. Me, my mom, and my little sister went shopping 2 weeks ago, the store we went to had BARELY ANY meat. We were just walking around when a lady said "here have this. You have children, you'll need it more" it was a big box of ribs. We tried giving it back and she refused. Whoever she is, she's a great person
Know a nurse? Send them a thank you card, or ask when they might want a pizza delivered. Find a neighbor who is afraid to go out and offer to get them groceries. Make some masks and hand them out in your apartment. We're all in this together, more than we ever have been.
Was in the supermarket and there was only 2 4xTin Tomatoes left. I did need some, but I only took one 'cause I'm not a f*****g sociopath.
I don’t think that there are more positive actions going on then negative actions. While positive actions do spread faster than negative actions, there is just so much hoarding and selfishness going on right now. But the illustrator gave the right message, right now we need to spread positivity.
Let us hope that the infection from the compassion virus becomes permanent.
I think this artist is definitely very smart... but you can't judge. Quite a few people who are getting huge amounts of supplies are buying for nursing homes, hospitals, large families, etc. That simple fact makes it much worse that people are being selfish. These people need it more than you need it for your "panic pandemic." My mom and dad have been looking tirelessly for supplies at stores to donate to a local nursing home. The only thing we have been able to donate is two bottles of aloe vera because everyone was panicking and buying everything else. Even still, we are ordering large amounts of fabric and sewing masks for hospitals and the nursing home. Please, do your part to help and don't be greedy or selfish.
Just got off my early shift, and find this. Yes. Please. Make a plate of cookies. (Or buy a packet of them, whatever.) Something. SOmeone bought me a hot chocolate, and while I had to wipe the container off with rubbing alcohol first, it was the BEST thing I've had in weeks... Just b/c someone saw I was struggling more than usual today. COMPASSION! And safety, please.
Why would they go to the store if they aren't going to buy anything? They will get infected with the real virus
I understand the nature of the cartoon but I wasn't surprised (as I am sure most people weren't) to find out how selfish, irresponsible and stupid people have acted in the run-up and during the COVID-19 crisis... there are glimmers of hope (of a return to normalcy in the near future) and that is what is keeping most 'good' people 'decent'.
Wow. that is really true. although Coronavirus is physically there, there is still positivity out there, showing that people can be bad or good. The more good people we have the sooner the real pandemic will end.
These comics are amazing! We can get through this. #QuarantineStrong
Alright so me and my roomie go to the store its a mess and well she needed milk ( shes a single teenage mom) i help her a lot so there was 4 cartons left so i took one and she took 1 but when we were walking to check out a random man came in front of us and asked about the kid and he looked like a hoarder b/c he had a a lot of stuff , but i stayed queit she told them that she felt bad and only took 1 carton (she threw me under too) then he said he would pay for us and then i figured out that he was a really nice guys so we all exchanged numbers ( he had another friend with him lol) and so my friend kept inviting them until me and zach ( his friend ) finally got them to be together forever (zach was gay thankgod ) and she was so happy for someone to help her more with the kid and right now they live together somehow idk , and well the kid had a VERY special connection with this dude
That's weird to just go into marts and watch others constantly. You're putting yourself and others at risk. Which to me is very selfish, all for an internet post
Well done: ethical & moral w/o religiosity, religious w/o labels. This needs to be spread around.... -Dr M
That's exactly the same thing as War Profiteering -- which in theory is illegal (unless you're Don The Cons main asskisser or top donor... or Haliburton... or Betsy DeVos's brother) and he didn't just act "douchey," he cleared out every store he could then tried to inflate the prices astronomically ($8-$70 per bottle). He's being investigated by Tennessee for price gouging, and do you know just how HARD you have to f**k up to get Red State/States Rights people to care about someone else acting badly for money? He's the literal definition of "dead weight," and he'd better hope we all forget about him before the next disaster because his neighbors will probably try to eat him. They just need an excuse.
Load More Replies...
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