The World Is Crazy

Well here we are nearing the middle of July, and more or less the middle of summer. I'd like to say things have calmed down, returned to normal. Or some semblance of normal anyway. But no, it hasn't. If anything, it's even more crazy today. Who'd have thought this is where we'd be, way back in March, when we were first dealing with this mess? Not me. Not anyone, likely.

So COVID-19 cases are on the rise, with the CDC reporting the highest daily totals of new cases we've experienced, at over 60,000 per day nationwide. The uptick has been attributed by most politicians and news media to poor social distancing at BBQs and parties and whatnot, mostly from the recent holiday weekend. The government's response to this today? Close the hair salons. Yeah, really. I'm not making that up. Because, that makes sense. Apparently. If ever our society was starting to resemble a mid-20th century dystopian novel, this is it. I mean, it's like we're all a bunch of kids being put on restriction by our parents for breaking curfew. Of course, it's not just the hair salons. It's also museums, movie theaters, zoos, and so on. Basically any form of recreational or social activity. Is this our...spanking??

Honestly, the government should have never starting making mandates. Our society just isn't up to the task of accepting mandates. We're too stubborn and independently minded. And we're not a "mask" culture. And, sorry, but you can't change the nature of a culture through mandates. I think what they should have done was to make a concerted and unified approach to recommending specific guidelines - and then lead by example. All of them. But they won't, they won't. Individual stores and businesses should have been free to implement their own policies and procedures. Which they were doing. Before all the mandates. I think we were on the right track. Then the government tried to intervene and tighten the noose, and the public turned their nose up to it.

And now here we are.

Sigh.

It also looks now like all schools will start the fall in total distance learning mode. They habven't all announced this, but several have. The rest will follow suit. Just like when the schools started to close in March.

For the record, I do have a mask. I got it from my mommy. Several months ago. It's one of those simple and common blue disposable ones. I only wear it one I need to go into a store that requires it. Which is every store, these days. It makes my face hot and makes it difficult to breathe and cause my glasses to fog up which effectively blinds me. So yeah, that's fun. I take it off as I soon as I can, and then fold it up and put it back in my pocket. Somehow I don't think I'm making use of it correctly...

You won't see a picture of me wearing it. I won't take a picture with one on. A lot of people do, though.

Is this our new way of life now? Our we doomed to live in this new society for the rest of our days? Will our children's children never know what it's like to go to school, meet and make friends, play on a playground together, have play dates and sleepovers? I sure hope not. I'm already tired of this. Ready to go back to MY world again. Because this alternate reality of ours is just too crazy.