LinkedIn Article | "Night of the Comet" and COVID-19

The year was 1984. I was a young teenager, and the Cold War was still very much a “thing”. It was just a year earlier that the U.S. and NATO engaged in war games repeatedly calling their exercises “strikes”, which the Soviet’s likely intercepted and thought they were under attack. Maybe that’s why the science fiction, post-apocalyptic cheesy, campy movie, “Night of the Comet” resonated so strongly with me then, and now.

If you are a GenXer, you likely remember this movie, which has now become a cult classic. Back then, I always thought, if we have a Nuclear War (or if a comet hits), and my sister and I were the last living people on Earth, this is what it would be like – red dust, deserted streets, and zombies. But it would be cool though because you could escape to the mall to try on all the shoes and clothes you want.

I never thought I’d ever see anything that even remotely looked like it did in that movie. I don’t think anyone did. But here we are.

Sure, we aren’t fighting zombies who want to eat our arm, however, like the comet in the movie, no one predicted the onslaught of the coronavirus or the "destruction" it’s causing. And there's no red dust or dark, radioactive rain, but that's just why everything seems so surreal right now.

Never did I think I would EVER see deserted streets or malls in my lifetime. I remember watching that movie and other post-apocalypse movies through the years, thinking Hollywood better not be right.

I have now seen photos of some of the largest cities in the world, eerily empty. I’ve seen video of the streets surrounding some of the world’s most iconic landmarks, usually bustling with life, so quiet, all you hear are the sounds of nature.

In all the videos and photos I have seen – it’s always a beautiful, sunny day…not at all like the post-apocalyptic dark and dreary worlds that Hollywood has depicted. Perhaps this is why the movie Contagion now feels like eerie foreshadowing.

It really feels like the apocalypse…on a beautiful day.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the surreal world we are currently living in...comment below.