I no longer have time for bitter, hate filled people who can't see past their own nose to the reality of the situation at our collective door.

I agree - but people need to cope the way they cope and some do it by insisting there is a plot, because things cannot possibly happen by accident and there has to be an enemy. Most of us don't think that way.

The ones that do tend to be noisy, to seek recruits.

I will be muting the seriously negative ones because that is damaging, and I don't need to hear it. There will be time later for blame-fixing.

Blame-fixers didn't just pop out of the woodwork - they've been there all along - they decide what they think and then shape facts to fit the theory and think they know. The vast majority of people where I live are being responsible, caring, and looking out for others, starting with family, and maybe buying too much toilet paper because it somehow seems vital at the moment.

We've got a problem, this ol' world, and we need to work on that. Even if somebody caused it - that somebody is unidentifiable and unreachable - and we need to concentrate on first aid. The rest is nonsense until the smoke clears.

It's not going to be fun and it's not going to be easy. Neither are earthquakes or tsunamis or volcanic eruptions. But after a hurricane, nearly everybody repairs and rebuilds and gets on with it. So will we. If we decide to crouch in the wreckage and wail, well, that's our choice.

Life often tests us, and this is a big test. Hope everybody does well on the exam. Not the flu test - the one about who we are.