What’s on my mind? A very nice woman on Twitter just wrote: “You know what I need tonight? Mini donuts.”
I could go for some mini-donuts, myself. It wasn’t her comment, but the 88 “likes” and many (unedited) replies it received. Among them:
“Are these, like, gourmet/indie mini-donuts or the ever accessible Tim Bits kind?”
“Like Fair donuts, the tiny, soft, deep fried ones that dissolve in your face. There's a little place near me that serves them all summer!”
“every night”
“I’m going to bookmark this so I don’t forget!”
“My favorite mini donuts are the ones with powdered sugar. I can eat so many of them it’s scary”
“They just disappear into my face!”
“Are you sure you’re not thinking too small?”
“I'm quite sure I'm thinking just right.”
“I may or may not be on my way to a donut shop based on this tweet.”
(Reader posts photo of glazed donuts)
“This is true EVERY night..”
“And now you have me obsessing over fair food... elephant ears, dairy barn ice cream and dilly dogs!”
(Reader posts photo of dilly dogs - a mustard-drizzled bun stuffed with a hollowed-out dill pickle stuffed with a wiener)
“Dipped in chocolate? Powdered sugar? Sprinkles? Oh god…”
“Cinnamon sugar.”
“I actually just bought some a little bit ago! Hit the spot!”
“I bought donuts (not minis) today!”
“that sounds... incredible. and now I want some too”
“I need many”
(Reader posts GIF of woman about to eat a full plate of food.)
(Reader posts GIF of sugared, glazed, o-ring cereal falling in slow motion.)
“Yessssssssss”
“YES”
(Reader posts GIF of cartoon cat, resting on a pillow at the foot of a cake-laden conveyor belt, with endless iced cakes falling into the cat’s open mouth.)
“Agreed”
As I write this on Saturday, July 18 at 6:55 pm PDT, Johns Hopkins University reports there are now 14,422,091 coronavirus cases, worldwide. Of that number, 5,206,074 are in mild condition; 59,910 are in serious or critical condition.
There have now been 604,818 deaths from COVID-19. Small children now have the virus. Eleven days ago, vice-president Mike Pence declared: “We are in a good place.”
Two hours ago, the Washington Post reported that the Trump administration is attempting to block a relief bill that would fund testing, contact tracing, and the Centers for Disease Control.
And so we seek refuge in donuts. We are not ourselves. Or maybe, we’re too much like ourselves.
Terrified of the crazed demagogue who is the President of the United States; overcome by grief and worry for the sick, dying, and dead, we say a fast prayer for exhausted essential care workers while seeking a momentary reprieve with a donut in one hand and a dilly dog in the other.
© Nicole Parton, 2020
