Tuesday, May 5, 2020

The Corona Chronicles...The New Normal

Start with the good stuff. C's temperature is back to normal. He was able to work out last week without issue. If it stays down then he can even go back out in public if he wants. Though I'm not sure he wants to. Everything he needs he's been able to get delivered and though we are pretty sure the antibodies will keep him from getting it again, at least for awhile, the science isn't settled on that just yet. So he might just stay home.

I want to say his office is work from home through June. I know it's at least through May but I want to say he told me through June. So he really doesn't have to leave just yet.

And that's kind of where a lot of us are right now.

If you are set up at home with work, or unemployment, you don't have to go anywhere. Grocery stores are delivering, restaurants are delivering, Target is delivering. You could make due from your couch.

Or you can do curbside pick up if you have a car. Place the order and show up and they bring it all to you. No contact. Just pop your trunk and they put the bags in and wave you away. I did this with groceries last week and though it's a learning curve to place the order for sure, it was so much more pleasant than going in to the store and battling the people who do not have a clue what 6 feet is or worse don't care about anyone but themselves so are making some sort of "I'm An Asshole" point by not wearing masks or social distancing.

I did go in to Target today, there are still some items they don't want to ship to you that I needed and it was really easy as well. Person at the door wearing a mask and keeping count of the number of people going in and out of the store to keep their occupancy low. Also showing you where the clean carts were and making sure you have a mask on. The store was pretty empty and easy to navigate. One woman who wore her mask to get in pulled it right off as soon as she was out of sight of the front door, which made me shake my head, but she also stayed away from me so I didn't care. I'm assuming she put it back up before she checked out so the clerk was protected as well.

We are settling in to the new normal.

Well some of us are anyway.

There is still the small but very loud group demanding that everything open back up RIGHT NOW.

It's weird to me. We joke in my family that I understand rules, just not how the apply to me but this is a whole other level of YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!

Because that's what it's boiling down to. They keep trying different arguments but basically they don't like being told what to do. Even if what they are being told to do they are being told to do to try and keep people safe.

And that's the biggest difference between them and me. I hate rules that don't make sense. But I will absolutely follow the ones that are clearly there for safety or for basic politeness. You know, like standing in line for something. That's just polite. You wait your turn. You aren't a rude asshole. Safety things are the same. When someone tells me or shows me how things are safer if I follow this rule (seat belts for instance) then I will absolutely follow that rule. Right now staying shut down, wearing a mask in public, keeping your distance, those are all safety rules and polite rules. The mask isn't for you, it's for everyone you come in contact with. Staying shut down keeps people safe. Including and especially the people that work in those places.

And I get it, you want to tell me all about how they are going broke and it's elitist of me to say they should stay shut down. But, as I talked about before, that's nonsense. We have the money to pay people to stay home. We've paid farmers not to farm for years. We subsidize oil companies to keep gas prices artificially low (or used to be artificial, we are in an actual low spot now). We give corporations big tax cuts to keep them from moving. We could afford to pay people to stay home. We (the country, the politicians, the people trying to convince you that feeding and clothing people is a bad thing) have decided not to. That's really it.

But those people are being super loud about it. And the press is eating it up so it looks like a larger group. Even though polls show that most people, and not just barely most but like upwards of 80%, are in favor of keeping things closed for longer.

They are getting used to this new normal.

Shopping from home.
Curbside delivery.
Wearing your mask in public.
Keeping a good amount of distance from others.
We can do this. We can keep the infection rates lower so hospitals can handle the sick. We really can do this.

Don't let the assholes shout their way to the infection rate skyrocketing. They don't care about you. They don't care about the most vulnerable. They don't care about reopening in the safest way possible. They just want to gather in groups with no masks shouting about not being told what to do.  They are assholes who have convinced themselves that they are the heroes in this story.

They aren't.

Stay home.
Stay safe.
Wear your masks.
Don't listen to the shouty assholes.

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