DONE …

Okay, so I’m officially done with being told where I can go and how many people I can go with.

I’m officially done being told I can go to Wal Mart but not to church.

No more “I’m a nurse, so …” posts or “You’re not wearing the mask to protect YOU, you’re wearing it to protect ME,” or “The church needs to show the world TRUE compassion by protecting its most vulnerable,” or “our grandparents went to war. All you have to do is stay home and watch Netflix…” memes allowed.

I’m officially done with HCQ study links and “If you think this is like the Flu, you’re an idiot,” links, and “There’s just no way we will ever be back to normal until we all get vaccinated,” links.

I’m done with comments threads that drag on and on about mask wearing and how it works in Japan because they’re just a more civilized society than we are and if wearing a mask bothers you, you’re part of the problem, blah blah blah.

I’m done with people parsing out every single word uttered in the air that might question something scientific or raise a medical concern about an unintended consequence of an extended lockdown.

I’m officially done with simply bringing up the fact that suicide rates are skyrocketing and every hack/wannabe comedian in cyber world making that same dumbass joke about hoping they don’t “catch the suicide.” Yes – we get it. It’s not an infectious disease. ROFLMAO

I’m officially done with social distancing. I’ll stand as close to you as I have to, to get to the string cheese. And I’ll walk any direction I damn well need to, to get down the aisle to the maple syrup. Sorry, grocery store. I don’t read your little traffic rules anymore – not now.

I’m officially done listening to commercials that start with the phrase, “In this difficult time …” If you want to sell me something, you’d better cut together a better ad LITERALLY as I’m typing this. Because I will turn your ass off immediately if you try to drag me back into that bullshit mindset.

All you late night talk show guys – go back to work. Get the audience in there. I’m tired of watching you act “just like us,” in your professionally decorated living rooms, with your shiny faces, tousled mane and unkept beard. Get in the hair and makeup chair, put on a damn suit, walk to your mark and do your job with all the dedication of an Amazon delivery driver.

I’m officially done washing my hands 20 times a day until they’re red and chafed.

I’m officially done sitting around my house, binge watching shit I didn’t want to watch the first time.

I’m done. Just. Done.

My quarantine ended the minute my Mayor (and several around the country) not only allowed, but INVITED AND ENCOURAGED people to attend a mass rally.

As of Saturday, May 30th, I’m done with Covid…whether I am or not.

Let me say that I agree with having the national conversation about police brutality. I MORE than agree with bringing George Floyd’s killer to justice.

I’m all in on racial reconciliation.

I do not blame people for wanting to take to the streets and show their anger. I do not blame the protestors or even the rioters for what happened on the last weekend in May, 2020. I totally get it. And I support most of it (I never support the destruction of personal property).

But if you pen people up for months on end, constantly talking about how close to death they all are and how their family may die and posting death numbers hourly, THEN, after an emotionally charged, unjust event takes place and the whole world has been watching the video over and over again, because they’re holed up and have nothing else to do, you I.N.V.I.T.E them to a protest march, what in God’s name do you think is going to happen?!?!

If you allow a march to happen, in the midst of a global pandemic, you are either putting the protestors at extreme risk or you don’t really believe they were all that much at risk in the first place.

In either case, you’re not fit to lead.

As my city (Nashville) burns, I am genuinely concerned for the people who attended the march/protest/riot. There were more than a hundred thousand people down there, sweating on each other and breathing on each other and yelling and sneezing and coughing and doing all the stuff nobody is supposed to be doing right now.

I’m sure the masks caught everything. (insert eye roll here)

And yes, I know people have been protesting the lockdown in other parts of the country. And I’m not taking their side over the side of people protesting racial grievance. Racial grievance trumps protesting the wearing of a stupid mask any day of the week. It’s not about that.

It’s about this: one group of protestors gathered organically and against the advice and allowance of the government. Fine. They’re pissed. Whatever. But they were not sanctioned to do what they did. It was frowned upon. And they sure as hell weren’t invited to do it.

The official positions – BY THE GOVERNMENT – were that these people were engaging in dangerous behavior and should go home and “stay in place.”

Fine. It’s a virus. Okay.

But the rally in Nashville (and many other places), on May 30th, was not only sanctioned by our Mayor but encouraged by our Mayor. He was even in attendance. That happened several places in the country. And hey, that is totally fine with me. I’m all for civil disobedience. These folks have a legitimate grievance. I might’ve been down there myself if I hadn’t been told to stay away from crowds of over 25 people.

If this rally was actually going to put people in danger, then the Mayor should’ve, at the very least, said that people could only attend at their own risk but that it was not recommended by his administration or the city. At the most, he should’ve issued an order to disburse and released a public statement that supported the spirit of the protest but in the interest of public safety strongly advised that all citizens stay home and safe.

But that’s not what he did. That’s not what anybody did.

The hierarchy of political expediency got the best of everyone in power and they just couldn’t resist the opportunity to grandstand and prove they aren’t a racist – all in one weekend. And they just abandoned the whole Covid narrative and protocol altogether.

I guess black lives only matter up until the point where you’re willing to sacrifice their safety to assuage their grief and fuel their anger.

If you are in a government leadership position and you encouraged a public march on the 30th of May, and in 10-14 days people start coming down with this virus again and dying, then you have just opened your city up to the mother of all lawsuits. And you might even be responsible for some deaths.

OR, if in 10-14 days, a bunch of people don’t get this virus or they get the sniffles or they feel a little achy and run down…then forget about it and go back to work, then you have drug us through what-ever-the-hell-this-was, as well as participating in the systematic dismantling of the greatest economy in human history…for nothing.

If the virus was going to be a deadly threat throughout the summer, before George Floyd was murdered, that means it was a deadly threat on May 30th – AT the marches, all over the country.

The good (OR bad) news is, we’ll know in a couple of weeks just how infectious it is. Either way, if you are a Mayor or Governor who encouraged this, resign. Because you suck as a leader. You either put people in extreme danger or you forced them out of work and into near insanity with an unnecessary, draconian lockdown.

Go do something else. Public service isn’t for you.

Who knows? I may die of Covid, now. But if I do, it will officially be on my own terms.

I’m done being told to be scared and how to live. If I can riot, I can worship. If I can march shoulder-to-shoulder with people in the streets, I can eat and shop and go to a movie shoulder-to-shoulder with them. If I can lock arms with fellow protestors in solidarity, then I can watch my daughter and her friends graduate from high school.

If the government won’t step in to protect people who are legitimately angry, but may need to stay home for the safety of all, then it’s just wielding power over those who will consent.

I no longer consent.

R

 

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