Well here we are folks. The last day of June, a few days from the Independence Day holiday, and a few months into the beginning of a new way of life in America. And you know what? I don’t think people are getting it. Just like the “Bunker Boy,” there are numbers of folks who seem to think that ‘woosh’ and just like that the virus will be gone and then we will be back to the good ol’ days. We’ll be dining in at our favorite restaurants or one’s we’ve wanted to try; sitting at the bar ‘shootin’ the bull’ with the person next to us; sitting in the Aladdin Theatre or Revelation Hall or Skyway Bar and Grill listening to live music; sitting in the stadium or arena watching live sports; screaming ‘Amen!” at our church of choice; having a barbeque with twelve of our closest friends and family; not worrying about whether my unemployment check will arrive this week; not having to wear this damn mask everywhere we go; and so on, and so on. Those are the things people are hoping and wishing for, but, in my opinion, that’s all it is — wishful thinking. In the last week I have been in the grocery store a couple of times, did outdoor dining at a restaurant, and been to the garden store, all establishments that are in a “masks required” county in Oregon. At the grocery store probably 2 out of every 10 shoppers were not wearing a mask; at the restaurant, several males were strutting around with a “try and make me put on a mask” attitude, two of whom were ordering drinks and food at the bar station; and at the garden store while standing in line to order my bark dust, I was the only one wearing a mask (the employee behind the counter was not wearing a mask, either). So, it is this kind of behavior that causes me to make the statement that ‘people are not getting it,’ and I predict that we will be in a ‘bigly’ shutdown mode again come August. I’m just waiting for someone to say something to me that wearing a mask or not is a political statement. My response will be, “No, it’s an IQ test and the short bus will be here for you momentarily. Have a nice day.” I know I shouldn’t be saying ‘short bus,’ but I think that might have the desired effect I am looking for. When the guy without a mask walked within two feet of me at the restaurant and I told him he was a prick, he just continued to strut throughout the dining area. I’m looking for the real Piss Off factor here.
I hate to say it, but we are spiraling out of control . Today, in America there are 35,664 new cases of the virus from yesterday’s count; there were 370 new deaths for a total of 126,739 American deaths; over 40 million people in this country are unemployed; businesses are closing for good all over the country; Americans cannot travel to Europe because of our lack of Coronavirus management; our administration has had information that Russia placed bounties on American soldiers lives and nothing has been done about it; cities across the country are being torn apart from the civil unrest brought about by systemic racism and our president’s calls for ‘white supremacy’ on almost a daily basis. Going back to “not getting it,” I don’t think most Americans understand that we are leading the world in Coronavirus outbreaks, and this includes third world countries. On a per capita basis, we have individual states that have seven times more cases in a day than an entire third world country like Pakistan. It looks like Joe Biden will be the Democratic contender in the November election and when we talk about hope, I’m hoping that he will be able to make America great again, because the current MAGA doofus has put us in freefall, as well as making us the joke of the world.
Ramble at ya’ later. Ziggyman
Mountain Man Musings 