Maybe

 

Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, “Maybe.” The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again said, “Maybe.” 

The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad,” and the farmer responded, “Maybe.” The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said, “Maybe.”'  

Maybe this virus will lead to some positive outcomes:

 

-Maybe the environment will improve, as the toxic air quality over China has already cleared with the slowing of industrial production;

 

-Maybe animal lives will improve, as China has already banned the consumption of live animals;

 

-Maybe people will reexamine unnecessary travel, as the banning of flights has already led to less fluorocarbons in the atmosphere;

 

-Maybe overall hygiene will improve, as people fearfully scrub and scrub;

 

-Maybe the bumbling Japanese government will be pressured to resign;

 

-Maybe American voters will oust Trump, whose reaction to this crisis will be ham-fisted and disastrous;

 

-Maybe this same lack of American medical preparedness will lead to better health-care overall;

 

-Maybe the growing distrust and unrest within China will lead to large-scale political changes;

 

Maybe.

 

The Groundhogs, "BBC Radio One Live"