March Madness – Canceled
College World Series – Canceled
Annual Adopt-A-Husky Fundraiser – suspended
Barenaked Ladies/Gin Blossoms Concert – Suspended until 2021 and moved inside
Minnesota State Fair – Canceled
Rec League Softball – Hard to see this happening
Above is a small list of things that I look forward to before the CoVID Pandemic. None of them is important in the scheme of life, but missing out events sucks. Having to cancel or miss plans causes sadness and makes our current situation harder to swallow. As time goes on, it appears like summer or everything has been canceled, but we can't let that emotion overwhelm us. The first four days of March Madness is my favorite weekend of the year, followed second by the opening of the College World Series. Every year since 2005, I have made the trip to Omaha to watch games and spend time with friends. Our first year we watched Arizona State eliminate Nebraska in an 11 inning thriller.
I have been to like five professional concerts in my life; this was going to the first paid concert I went to since seeing Poison and Rat about ten years ago. I was thrilled when my wife got this for me; I am both easy and hard to buy for. Not because I am hard to make happy, but because I lack the ability to show emotion, much to the dismay of my wife and I am sure friends and family. Already, my wife blames me for why our daughter can straight face it so much. My wife and I are supporters of a group that saves huskies, one of our two huskies comes from them and helping them out is something we love to do.
Last year was the first time since about 2009 I was able to find and play for a slow pitch softball team. It has been hard to find a place to join these activities in Winona so I was excited to have a place to play again this summer.
I used to hate the Minnesota State Fair or more so I liked to go and get cheese curds, play a few games and leave. However, now I look forward to it every year. Working at the state fair leading into my first year of college helped me make friends; I was able to bring Sweet Martha’s cookies to dorms after my shift. Now, I like to try new food and beer. I enjoy walking around and watching people. Sitting at the KFAN booth for a bit and so on. I think I have been to the fair nearly every year of my life. I am sure all of you could make similar lists. Most of you could also make a list with more important things you are missing during this pandemic, weddings, funerals, holding a granddaughter or grandson, family reunions, seeing older relatives who are in care facilities, had a surgery postponed and more. We are all missing things that are important to us, big and small.
In addition, many are losing a steady income. Teachers cannot see their students. Students are missing dances, sports and graduations.
People with mental health issues have to adjust on the fly. It sucks and it is not fun. It is okay to be angry, sad, mad, frustrated about all these things and more. My wife and I are lucky. We both still have our jobs and get to spend time working from home while taking care of our infant. We are aware this luxury might not last but I think it is worth pointing out for the sake of this discussion. I know the comeback will be that it is easy to say all the following because your life has not really changed. In some aspects that is true, but it is also true for all of us. Very few people’s lives, if any, are the same but for most there are still aspects that are the same or at least similar.
None of this means we should not be asking questions about opening up our communities or questioning the policies that are being inputted in place by our governments. We can and should be asking what the long term plans are because staying inside or separated forever will not work. How these orders will affect us in two months, next fall or even next year? Asking these questions does not make you insensitive or mean that you are not taking this seriously.
However, we cannot lose the ability to be pragmatic.
Protesting without practicing social distancing or bringing guns to protests/government buildings is not included in the former. Rules to keep you safe are not an assault on your first or second amendment, if they were, wouldn’t all rules; such as seatbelts or even things like getting kicked out of place for not following rules. My guess, if you are a parent or in any position where you are in charge of someone, you have rules that you expect people to follow and punishments for those who do not.
Asking why a pet-groomer is open but my church is limited to 10 people is not an honest question. The comparison is flawed. Doing a virtual pet grooming seems illogical, doing a virtual church service is not. Come up with a better argument. You can ask why the limit is 10, but be realistic. Ask for clarity as to what influenced the decision. Asking and answering that question should occur.
Saying that your freedom is being infringed upon is nonsense and would take a longer discussion, yet the simple response is that those people do not really want freedom; they just do not like what is happening. Using words like freedom, communism, liberty, and tyranny to try to prove your point usually do the opposite and add nothing to help move the conversation anywhere. Also, if your “freedom” imposes on my “freedom”, whose freedom is more important? Protesting with confederate flags, Nazi images or even pro/anti-political imagery also makes no sense. Waving a Trump flag because you are mad that you cannot go get a haircut or have a beer inside is like waving a Minnesota Twins Flag on stage at A Christmas Carol performance set in the 16th century. The same can be said for waving an American flag or DFL flag. Again, ask the leaders for the reasons why they came to the decision they did. Acting like this makes you easy to write off and ignore. Spreading conspiracy theories or bunk science does not help. Stop and think critically for like three seconds and you will come to the realization that what you are spreading is not only false but also dangerous. The attacks on science are astounding and it appears to come from people who do not understand the scientific method.
The idea that governors who are encouraging people to stay home and to wear masks as a power grab or trying to infringe on your freedom are ridiculous. They are doing this because they want to protect us based on evidence from health officials. In addition, they are making these choices when they know it will negatively affect budgets and jobs. That is a terrible political move to bleed money from your budgets and put people out of jobs. On the other side, as mentioned earlier, it is unrealistic to continue to shelter-in-place and shutter all doors. Not only can the economy not handle this but also it can cause physical and mental harm to people. All sides have brought this up but those who are getting upset that things are opening are not pushing it enough. In addition, these people need to be more realistic about opening up, not because it will please anyone who wants to open up, but because it needs to happen and it may help us open up more safely.
We also tend to see the people in red hats shouting and yelling and assume that is what all people who want to open up are like. The reality is not that but that loud minority gets airplay because the silent majority is just that, silent. The measured people who want to open up slowly do not cause a scene.
What we need at this time is for more people to speak up with practical questions and call for practical answers. If not, our CoVID Groundhog day will continue to go on and on.
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