Category: blog

A gentle reminder: when we are out in the world, it’s incredibly important to maintain a six foot distance from each other. This virus doesn’t go away and stop being dangerous, because we walked into a building.

Most of us who are able to quarantine have been doing that, and it’s working to flatten the infection curve, to give our doctors and researchers time to find a vaccine and a treatment to reduce the mortality rate of this virus. Most of us aren’t sick, and we aren’t carriers. That doesn’t mean we should act like it when we are in public.

When we’re in public, it’s our responsibility to behave as if we are infected and we don’t want to spread Covid-19 to anyone else.

This means that we keep our distance from each other, even though it feels weird. This means we wear a cloth mask in public, even if it’s uncomfortable or whatever bullshit reason selfish people are using right now to justify their choice to ignore a simple and effective way to keep us safe. It means we respect one-way aisles in grocery stores, and we wait in those aisles, six feet apart, instead of pushing past our fellow humans who are shopping.

If the worst thing we have to deal with in a given day is the inconvenience of actively maintaining six feet from our fellow humans, to protect them and ourselves, there’s just no real excuse to ignore that, other than laziness and selfishness.
Let’s remember that we are in this together, and let’s make an effort to care for ourselves and for each other by making the deliberate choice to stay six feet away from each other, wash our hands frequently, wear our cloth masks in public, and never forget that all of us are going through this at the same time, together.

I know you aren’t lazy or selfish, but I know there are people in our lives who need a gentle reminder.

This is for them.

This whole thing we are living through is a lot, and it’s really understandable to want to get back to normal. The thing is, science and virology don’t care about your timetable, and until science and virology have a vaccine for Covid19, this is our reality. Wishing it would go away, and acting accordingly, is only going to make this worse. Refusing to follow medical guidelines, because you’re pissed off and frustrated is only going to make this worse. Ignoring medical advice because you’re bored and want to go to the beach is only going to make this worse.

Selfish, ignorant people are going to make this worse. Don’t be one of them.

Please, please, please be mindful and self-aware. I get that you’re stressed and frustrated and low-key scared all the time, and not just about getting sick. So am I. You’re worried about our terrible leadership, you’re worried about our cratering economy that our terrible leadership is making worse. So am I. You’re worried about this pandemic that we can’t control at all. Me too. You just want to get in and out of the store or wherever, the faster, the better.

So do I. So do all of us. But let’s remember that we are in this together, and let’s make an effort to care for ourselves and for each other by making the deliberate choice to stay six feet away from each other, wash our hands frequently, wear our cloth masks in public, and never forget that all of us are going through this at the same time, together. We can choose to be patient and make the best of a terrible situation, or we can selfishly make it worse for everyone, including ourselves.

Please choose to be kind. Please choose to be patient. Please do not be selfish.

Thanks for listening.

As we watch right-wing agitators, Fascists, media personalities, and the impeached president howl about ending Stay at Home before the public health experts say we should, remember that, as a SPECIES, we are only as safe as the least-protected person among us.

I am so grateful to live in a city, county, and state that has leadership that understands that. I can practice responsible social distancing, I can stay at home, and I can be a responsible and compassionate member of society, knowing that I’m supported by my local and state government.

I am terrified that right wing state governments will end Stay At Home before the public health experts say it’s safe to do so, and even places like Los Angeles, which are sort of politically insulated from the worst impulses of the Fascists in the federal and various state governments, will be right back to where we were when this all started, and all this Stay at Home we’ve all been responsibly doing, because we care about our neighbors and loved ones, will be for nothing. I can’t even imagine how terrifying it must be to live in a place like Michigan, where we see the profoundly ignorant, following the profoundly evil, hearing the call to turn public health — the very life and death of our fellow humans — into just another part of the culture war.

It is deeply irresponsible, sociopathic behavior, and it is sadly predictable.

The only thing Republicans care about is their own wealth and power, and if people have to die so they can accumulate even more, they are entirely okay with that. If the right people die (according to their racist, xenophobic worldview), that’s a bonus. It’s sickening.

I mean, can you even imagine believing that “only” 1.28 MILLION CHILDREN DYING is entirely acceptable, so shareholders can get a little more money this quarter. That’s a true thing that happened. That snake oil grifter Dr. Oz said that. He’s totally fine with 1.93 children dying, and he doesn’t even have the self-awareness or compassion to realize what a ghoulish, reprehensible, indefensible statement that is.

But if your children, your parents, your neighbors, YOU, have to die so Trump can infect us with his brand of Fascism for another four years, if someone you love has to die so a billionaire can shove a little more money into their pocket, that’s entirely acceptable.

So hey, here’s an idea for Trump cultists: if you’re cool with “only” some percentage of people dying preventable deaths, you go first. It’s worth it, because the Dear Leader says so. Infect yourself to own the Libs!

See how fucking insane that sounds? How callous, how selfish, how just fucking horrible that is? Good. Your revulsion to that statement proves that you’re a good person. I’m glad you’re here. There are more of us than there are of them, and we who are lucky enough to live in a city, town, county, and/or state that has responsible, public-health-minded officials leading us have to do what we can to help protect our brothers and sisters who don’t.

These right-wing agitators are going to create civil unrest, and they are going to get innocent people killed, because they are the Useful Idiots for people like Trump and his transnational crime syndicate, masquerading as a government.

Don’t let these people hurt you and your loved ones. Stay safe, everyone. Stay home. Stay healthy.