Well we made it through another month of this historical journey of separation and isolation. The good news is that the end is in sight as a result of the encouraging developments of a vaccine from three different drug manufacturers. We are beginning the holiday season, which normally would mean shopping at the mall and gatherings with our friends and family partying hardy, but right now we can’t let “pandemic fatigue” cause us to let our guard down. We need to remain patient for awhile longer. The mayor of El Paso, Texas, Dee Margo, was interviewed on “Face the Nation” yesterday and discussed why his city was getting hit so hard with spikes in the number of folks getting the coronavirus. “We did a deep dive in our contact tracing for the week of November the 10th through the 16th and found that 55% of the positives were coming from shopping at large retailers, what we’d term as the big box stores,” Margo said. When I see contact tracing data like this it makes me wonder what data Oregon’s governor was using when she made the decision to put a freeze on outdoor dining at restaurants for two weeks. If the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association is correct with the data they presented to the Governor, less than one-half of one percent of total COVID-19 cases were a result of restaurant contact. As I have mentioned in previous posts, we have friends who own and operate restaurants in our community. The missus and I will only do outdoor dining at this time and our experience while dining at Skyway Bar and Grill prior to the Governor’s new order was very positive. They have safety protocols in place much more stringent than I have observed at Fred Meyers, Safeway, and other retailers like Mayor Margo describes. I believe that it is the responsibility of each of us to manage our personal behaviors to decrease the spread of this virus more than it is to shut down businesses. Good Lord, you could still get a haircut or your nails done, but can’t eat a cheeseburger outside? Many employers, in my opinion, have worked very hard to implement safety procedures in their various industries and it is a shame to penalize them and their employees, when the data shows that it is irresponsible behavior of individuals by not wearing masks, not social distancing, and having to be at that fun gathering because “I am just so tired of not being able to be with my friends and not being able to do anything fun.” Like I said earlier, the end is in sight if we all just follow some simple guidelines that I’m pretty sure most people have seen and heard for the past nine months. The good news is that the Gov “has seen the light” and we can eat that cheeseburger outside beginning Thursday. End of sermon.
My prediction yesterday that tRump would watch Christopher Krebs on 60 Minutes and come unglued was right on. I just love it when he gets his bowels in an uproar.
Time to go watch the 5:00 fake news. Have a great beginning of the new week and month. Ziggyman
Mountain Man Musings 