Hi everyone. This feels like a fraught time. Can we do a check-in?

So, I have a few self-assigned beats here at RMNB. I consider myself responsible for writing the statistical stuff, the silly stuff, and also the thoroughly un-fun stuff. This story is going to be that last one.

I won’t speak for everyone at RMNB, so I’ll just say — for me, lately — it has been difficult to write about hockey. The Washington Capitals haven’t been a good or fun team for a few months, and that’s only one part of it.

If it’s not too dramatic, I’ll say that the world is in a bad way right now. There has always been cruelty and depredation of various kinds and to various degrees, but this moment feels different. There’s a sense of unbreakable political stasis — particularly among the young people in our audience. Plus, obviously, now there’s a full-blown and official pandemic. It’s unclear in this moment, but it looks like the coronavirus may keep crowds away from Caps games for a while. So I guess we’ll all be watching from our couches.

I worry that could magnify something you’re already experiencing. Maybe you don’t go to many games. Maybe you’re not even local to the DMV. Maybe you work from home — or are being forced to now because of the outbreak. Maybe you don’t have the privilege of having a job at all, and maybe you feel generally left out of today’s cultural or political movements, and maybe you don’t have a lot of face-to-face social interaction at all these days.

That’s a lot of maybes for why you might feel alone, isolated, or alienated right now. I know that’s true for me. And that’s why I’ve had such a hard time putting together compelling RMNB stuff for you. It’s made me feel pretty bad about myself; it made me feel more alone.

But then I sat down for a second, and I breathed deep, and I realized that I couldn’t possibly be the only one that’s feeling this way. Lots of people — maybe even everyone — have to be feeling overwhelmed or despondent or just plain lonely. As trite as it sounds: I know I’m not alone in feeling alone, and neither are you.

So I’m going to resolve to do a couple things. One is to make sure that RMNB remains a place where you can go and feel welcomed. The other is to let you know that I know that this is a hard time, and that it’s okay to be bummed out, and if you need us we will be there for you.

Our email address is thecrew@russianmachineneverbreaks.com.

If you need more than just a place to hang out and feel welcome, here are some real resources:

Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-8255

Veterans Crisis Line
1-800-273-8255

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline
(1-800-662-HELP (4357)

OK2Talk Helpline Teen Helpline
1 (800) 273-TALK

Crisis Text Line
Text SIGNS to 741741 for 24/7, anonymous, free crisis counseling

Anyway, thanks for reading. You know what to do if you’re going through hell, right?