In the current climate, I'm not sure which of these two groups irks me more:
The "open-now" protesters who insist that nothing short of an immediate end to all isolation and quarantine directives, including (in some cases, most especially) wearing masks and keeping social distance; or
The "lock-everybody-away" insisters who maintain that nothing short of complete lock-down, with only essential services ("essential" defined by their values, of course) permitted to operate.
The first group seems to have two types within it: Business people who struggling to stay afloat (and I understand their frustration), and right-wingers who see any government regulation as an infringement on their right to do as they damned well please (I understand them, but I think they're ill-considered).
The second group, similarly, has two types: Essential workers (and their families) who do not want to be placed in greater harm's way than necessary (as one of them until two weeks ago, I understand), and self-righteous prigs (sorry, no other word comes to mind) who glare at anyone not wearing a mask--even when 12 feet from anyone else in an open park--as a danger to the health and safety of the community as a whole.
Zealotry does nobody any good. There has to be a common ground. While I agree there are certain businesses that simply cannot be conducted safely right now (how do you give a haircut or manicure from six feet away?), there are others that could make the appropriate accommodations (is it really impossible for a real estate agent to show a house with the proper precautions?)
Let's work together to find the right balance.
1 comment:
The fact that people are waving guns, Nazi symbols and Trump flags at protests can be laid at the feet of the Great Divider who is working hard to play to his ill informed supporters. On the other hand, there are business owners at the protests too who are seeing their hard work gather cobwebs while they scramble to pay bills. Unfortunately there are no conciliatory words coming out of Washington DC. To be fair, here in PA, Wolf has managed to look shady with his unwillingness to release any information about exemptions and rules for exemptions for weeks after being asked for them. That blunts his current message of patience. We here in S E Pa do have very high COVID19 infection rates and as an old guy I am willing to wait for the opening. I have no solution to the divide and no matter how long this goes, that divide will never be bridged. ACM
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