I think I can speak for a lot of people when I say that I have had it with this virus. When I was sent home from work on March 17th to start the safer at home orders enacted by the governor of my state, I never imagined that six months later little would have changed. In fact, from my point of view, things are worse. Far, far worse.
My family has been vigilant about following the guidelines. We wear our masks everywhere. In fact, my sister in law makes masks that are supposedly as effective as an N95 mask. If we are out in public, they are on. Restaurants. What is a restaurant? March 8 my family and I ate breakfast in a hotel restaurant after my parent’s anniversary party the night before. September 4 I ate lunch with a friend at a restaurant, we ate outside. On an incredibly windy day. I didn’t even consider eating indoors. We have not socialized, visited with family in a large group, gone to a theatre or museum. I know, we are all in the same boat. We follow the rules because we want things to return to normal.
I work in the public, so I see the people who don’t want things to go back to normal. I assume they don’t want a strong economy and a return to normal living because they refuse to comply with the scientific based guidelines that tell us this is what we need to do. Those people who claim that their personal rights are being infringed upon because they are asked to wear a mask in a public space. They claim a medical condition prevents them from such a safeguard. Seriously? If you have a medical condition that prevents wearing a mask, why are you exposing yourself to a virus that would make that condition worse? They demand college sports return. Newsflash, I have 3 kids in college. Covid numbers are surging on those campuses. I expect that my daughter who is away, in the dorms, will be home soon. Why would anyone demand the return of these sports when the virus can’t even be contained on a small, Midwestern college campus? Don’t even get me started on bars. I live in Wisconsin, the drunk capital of the US. People were acting like children when they couldn’t go to their local bar. It wasn’t until the virus shut everything down that I truly realized how incredibly selfish the human race is.
I miss my family. I miss my parents, I want to hug them and spend time with them. I miss my friends, so much. While I have seen my parents, outdoors, I have not really socialized. I know that soon, my visits with my parents will end due to weather. I miss live theatre. One of my favorite things to do is to go to the Milwaukee Rep to see plays. We get season tickets and enjoy 6 shows per year. That first show in the fall is something I look forward to. I often go with my mom and we meet for brunch before hand. I miss going to my church. There are no plans to reopen in the near future. The minister tries with Facebook live, but it’s not the same. I stopped watching several weeks ago, along with a lot of other people. Everything being on zoom and Facebook is just not the same.
I know I sound as selfish as the people I criticize for not following the rules, I admit that. However, I believe in science and the science has told us what to do to get back to normal. So, I am frustrated by those who turn a blind eye to science and reason. Things need to change or we are going to be dealing with this a lot longer.
Life In The Falls 