Heat Wave

It’s mid-summer and the weatherman warns of excessive heat on the East Coast. As political ads begin to fill the airways, we’re still in the midst of a deadly pandemic, something that’s changed our lives drastically in the past five months.

Notable to me is the great divide that marks our lives. In a phone conversation with a new acquaintance I can tell in the 1st conversation which TV news he is watching, just by the way he speaks of the many riots occurring in our cities. Another friend banters away on FB about peaceful protests in our cities.

A kindly older man in my neighborhood walks daily, always with a stretchy mask covering most of his face and neck, while others stroll along in groups, wearing no masks, laughing and shouting. A lady enters the grocery store and cleans hands and grocery cart handle with the sanitizing cloth provided at the door. Up and down the aisles, she fastidiously cleans her hands again after touching each item.

Several shoppers follow the arrows and 6-feet markers diligently while others move around as usual with no attention to social distancing. A tall food rep in jeans and t-shirt stacks shelves with pretzels wearing a small mask that has slid off his nose. He certainly doesn’t understand the reason for masks or, if he does, isn’t taking it seriously. I find his exposed nose repulsive and quickly side step the situation and head for the cashier.

Young mothers are nearly hysterical in their online conversations re: home schooling curricula, hybrid models, or simply returning to a normal in-person school schedule like the good old days.

COVID relief should include tax benefits for certain people or COVID relief is strictly about victims of the economic shut-down. The police force should be reformed or defunded, depending on your side in this polarizing conflict. It goes on…and I’m sure you’re surrounded by it also.

How sad that we can’t cross the divide and tackle the common enemy together, a pandemic that is unprecedented in our time. We could commit to joining forces in dialog and creative effort, to practicing safety precautions prescribed by experts, and to providing quality care to all who are sick and vulnerable. Surely then we would gain the upper hand in this challenge.

Indeed, we’re having a heat wave in more ways than one!

Everyone is doing it…

 

……. whether it be drinking beer, as reported yesterday by a man who has been nominated to serve for a life-term position on the highest judicial court in the nation, or whether it be expressing sadness, anger, or disappointment over this event.

Here find my view on the hearings yesterday. My sympathies are with all parties involved.

I believe that:

#1 Not everyone is drinking beer or drinking it in excess. To give that impression is simply wrong.

#2 Questions and answers about what one recalls from the experiences of being blacked out or asleep are inconclusive. When I’m asleep, I am not aware of what I’m doing. My understanding is that being blacked out is also a state of non-awareness.

#3 The Senators should consider this question: What message is being sent to our nation, especially our young people, about responsible decision-making? If the judge is confirmed in spite of allegations and statements in his own testimony, an important message is LOST, that is, to think of consequences before you act. The belief that “everyone is doing it” does not make it right. Consuming a substance in the name of fun to the point of falling asleep or blacking out is foolish. Anything can happen. The decisions we make along the way determine our future path.

#4 The honorable judge has an opportunity now to graciously step away from the nomination, in order to protect his family and the families of his opponents from additional harm, in order to allow the president to make a fresh nomination, in order to free himself from continuing entanglement of power-seeking and pride and to free all of us from being drawn into this ugly situation, and in order to give the American people, whom he wishes to serve, a renewed trust in our government. This would be a wise decision—one of integrity and honor. It would be gracious and generous and right.

The above thoughts come from an ordinary American citizen who is a teacher, mother, grandmother, thinker. I welcome your views.