"Say It Isn't So"

 

    You can not have gone through nearly a year and a half of a pandemic without taking some time to assess everything in your life.  I know now that I was driven totally by fear.  Perhaps we all were and I know I certainly was. Every decision, every move was cultivated by the fear getting sick or watching a loved one become sick. The fear sadly, is still with me.  People have said that I am a fairly resilient person but I wonder if that still holds true given the new normal I see around me.

     When the only things you have done is go to the supermarket and the gas station, life becomes infinitely smaller and less complicated.  Routines are changed and nothing is really the same.  What remains the same are the feelings and the emotions we have for those we love.  That does not change.  No one wants to see someone they love get sick.  There have been discussions after discussions regarding vaccines and I can tell you that just like public education, our health is NOT political.  Getting a vaccine with the rarest of exceptions is our civic responsiblity.  Wearing a mask is a civic responsibility.  We do these things out of love for our families, our friends, our colleagues and those who we have not yet met.  

    I hate masks.  I will be wearing them in the fall when school starts to be sure but I hate them.  The full human being behind the mask is never truly exposed.  It is as though, the mask is another excuse to hide our truth.  But here's the thing...We do not want to be responsible for someone getting sick because we were too selfish and too inconsiderate to do what is morally and ethically appropriate.  Again, politics has NOTHING to do with our health.  Our health, our well-being, our joy for living rests on doing the right thing now.  NOW... meaning NOW...until the virus understands that we are not going to give in to stupidity.  We must not give in to  political rhetoric.  If one passes away from COVID, no one is paying to attention to politics but they will be asking themselves, "Why or how? What could have been done differently? Why was I so stubborn?"  

     My musings are based on 17 years of teaching and working with a public that has been incredibly generous, gracious and appreciative of everything that I have tried to do for their children.  I am beyond fearful for my students, their famiies, my colleagues, their families, and of course, my family.  Returning to school in September is going to be beyond fearful...It is vitally important to express that now.  It is the truth.  We can argue all the politics, discuss all of the myths, but the real truth is that no one wants to die needlessly.  No one wants to become ill when the solution is fairly simple.  I do not understand why that is such a hard pill for some to swallow.