ONE YEAR INTO THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN, ONE LOCAL MAN SAYS LIFE HAS BEEN RELATIVELY NORMAL.

For many people, the global pandemic has cost them a lot. Some families have lost loved ones to the disease. Families have been isolated from each other. Holiday traditions have been cancelled or modified. Jobs have been lost and some families have even lost their homes. However, as most Americans approach the one-year anniversary of "15 Days to Flatten the Curve", we found one man who says his life really hasn't changed that much.

"We have always been lost, lost", said Gollum, who goes by the preferred pronouns of we/ours. "No name, no business, no Precious, nothing. Only empty. Only hungry; yes, we are hungry. A few little fishes, nasty bony little fishes, for a poor creature."

For most Americans, the 'new normal' which Gollum described is not only a drastic and unwelcomed shift, but it also goes against the very foundations of the American Dream; namely, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. However, for Gollum—who used to go by the name Sméagol—it's just another day.

Following the executive orders from autocratic governors wasn't really a shift for Gollum either, who told us we/ours have been serving masters for a long, long time.

"We swears to do what Master wants. We swears. Master carries heavy burden…Sméagol knows…Heavy, heavy burden. Free ones cannot know. Sméagol look after Master."

When informed that after a year of trial-and-error, some states--like Texas and Mississippi--have decided to cancel their mask mandates and open up, Gollum seemed to take this news fairly hard.

"Masters betrayed us. Wicked. Tricksy. False. We ought to wring their filthy little neckses. Kill them! Kill them! Kill them both. And then we takes the precious and we be the masters!"

It seems that Gollum prefers the new version of normal, rather than the old normal  most Americans seem to prefer. As some states look back over the year-long version of 15-days to flatten the curve it may become increasingly difficult for these tyrannical governors to convince their subjects that the lockdowns and economy-crushing mandates are really for their own good.