It’s time to take a look at this apocalyptic year so I’ve complied a list – starting in October and moving into the current month – of sad, upbeat, timely and even funny news items that I’ve run across. Yes, the list is a mash-up, but overall, one gets a pretty complete picture.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2020

Rather bleak news: another 840,000 American workers applied for unemployment benefits in the previous week. This brought the number of jobless claims to roughly 63,000,000 or 40% of the nation’s total workforce.  

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14

Secret pregnancies are on the rise – thanks to working from home. With virtual meetings replacing real ones and strategically placed laptop cameras there is no need to come forth with the big news. Now, new mothers-to-be have the option (and power) of when to notify their employers. “This can be liberating,” said one executive. “It also allows me to get the rest and medical appointments I need without having too many awkward conversations about why.” Another remarked, “It wasn’t really ‘a secret’ – however, right up to the day I left to go on maternity leave there were still a number of my colleagues who had no idea I was pregnant.” It made work easier because nobody made assumptions about my ability to carry on.” 

MONDAY, OCTOBER 18

The rich are really different: they’re buying more high-end jewelry, e.g., diamond rings and gold necklaces. Fine jewelry sales were up 10% to $5,000,000,000 (yes, you read that correctly) in August 2020. “In every market in the world, the #1 competition to our industry is travel,” says one executive with De Beers, the world’s largest diamond mining firm. “But with travel in a slump, diamond jewelry has been capturing some of the unspent travel budget.” 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22

The weekend of 10/17-18 was the busiest for air travel in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic – more than one million folks passed through airport checkpoints on Sunday, October 18 – the most since March 17, 2020. This is still well below pre-pandemic figures. 

MONDAY, OCTOBER 26

Okay, it’s time for some comic relief. Apparently, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, suggested on air that Jennifer Lawrence “staged” her fall at the 2013 Oscars where she won the Best Actress Award for her performance in “Silver Linings Playbook.” Months later, she saw Cooper at a holiday party and confronted him by asking, “Have you ever tried to walk up stairs in a ballgown? How do you know what it’s like?” He replied, “I have no idea” followed by a wonderful apology. Lawrence believes they’re good friends now.  

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1

Here’s what the moneyed jet set is doing in 2020. Globally, commercial flights were down two-thirds between March 1st and early September – compared with the same period last year. Now, sales of private jets are increasing. “We now have three times the number of new owners as we had at this point last year,” notes one executive. “People who viewed plane ownership as a luxury now believe that the ultimate luxury is peace of mind. My clients come from the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East.” In the past month he has helped folks buy more than $200,000,000 worth of new aircraft – “most of it in cash” he adds.  

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4

Finally, an incredible and upbeat news report! A little three-year-old girl was found alive beneath the rubble four days after a 7.0 earthquake in Turkey. For more than 90 hours Ayda Gezgin was trapped until rescuer Nusret Aksoy heard her call out. She was in a tight space next to a dishwasher, which had shielded her from falling debris. “We have witnessed a miracle,” said one resident.  

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13

A headline today reads, Dessert Storm. It goes on to cream the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi for  “showing off” two $24, 000 Sub-Zero freezers stocked with $13 pints of premium ice cream on “The Late Late Show” -- at the peak of the pandemic, no less. The Democrats are blaming her for the party’s poor showing in the House races. 

WHY RATHBONE MANSIONS? Do you and your friends like music? Of course, you do – everyone does! It engages and lifts the mind and soul. That’s why you’ll be happy to know that the Rathbone Mansions are only 12 minutes from Frenchmen Street, a four-block stretch of live music that includes: modern and traditional jazz, funk and R&B in bars, restaurants, night clubs and more. You came to The Big Easy to have fun. This is where you’ll find it.      

Shaun Nelson-Henrick