Okay so I wasn’t planning on writing anything today. I was planning on watching 90 Day The Other Way with Ma, maybe doing some diamond painting, and eating all the snacks. You know, just a normal Wednesday at Silverman House. But then, Ma & I got the COVID update on our phones. OVER TWO HUNDRED NEW CASES IN KERN COUNTY.
Which then prompted the following question…WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?
I mean, seriously! Here in Kern County, our cases WERE going down. At one point our cases were under 50 per day. Then around Halloween, it’s like everyone forgot we were in the middle of a pandemic. I saw “COVID sneaking up on the Halloween party” memes like they were going out of style. Admittedly, those made me laugh. That laugh took a bit of the sting out of the fact that my NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS had a ridiculously huge blowout of a Halloween bash…until four in the morning. Luckily I slept through it.
I swear, do people WANT to annoy me?
But again I say, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? What in the hell possesses people in the middle of a DAMN PANDEMIC to have huge parties & giant gatherings? Protests and President-Elect celebrations aside, of course. First of all, those gatherings were outside. Second of all, people wore masks. Third of all, I’d be willing to bet that those folks have been quarantining and masked up for the time being, so I’m not real concerned about THOSE types of gatherings. Here’s some information to back up what I’m telling you, and for anyone who wants to come at me with this whole routine:
Yeah, no. I’m prepared for y’all. LOL. Kindly refer to the above paragraph. I mean, I had some concern, but not as much concern as I did for blowout Halloween parties with a bunch of drunk, maskless idiots hootin’ and hollerin’ all over each other (til 4 A.M.). Again I say, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? Let me ALSO say I am a LOT more concerned about these kinds of events. MAINLY BECAUSE THEY’RE HAPPENING NEXT DOOR!
To irritate me even further, the next day after the Halloween party a paper plate blew into our yard from the slobs next door. Believe me when I tell you I wish I’d had a HAZMAT suit in order to collect it. As it stands, I put on a pair of disposable latex gloves and held my breath while I deposited said plate into the trash. Then I washed my hands 32 times.
Why aren’t people listening? Help me understand.
God knows this isn’t the first time I’ve been annoyed about people gathering and NOT taking the corona virus seriously. You can read about that here. And to be honest at this point I thought as a nation we’d be at the very least NOT AT OVER TEN MILLION CASES. Think I’m kidding? A simple Google search pulls up some sobering statistics. Here – I’ll save you the trouble of doing this yourself. Go on ahead and click here and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
At any rate, frankly I’m disgusted at people today, especially in Kern County, since I live here. Like I said, WE WERE going down in cases. But then things started opening up. People started going out to eat and acting as though things were normal. DO THEY NOT WATCH THE NEWS? DO THEY NOT SEE THE CASES SPIKING? Are my immediate family the only ones in Kern County continuing to stay home, and wear a mask when we MUST go out for essentials like groceries? We being my husband. As for me? I’ve been staying my behind HOME.
As a matter of fact just today I posted on Twitter:
“Dear #KernCounty, you can thank your NO MASK WEARIN’, HOUSE & HALLOWEEN PARTY HAVIN’, talkin’ bout ‘IT’S A HOAX’ lookin’ neighbors for our imminent return to the purple tier. FFS WEAR A MASK AND STAY THE HELL HOME! Dang dummies. SMH! UGH!”
Then I continued my Twitter rant with:
“I swear to God, there’s NO damn restaurant THAT necessary to & eat at or any unnecessary place you gotta go during a PANDEMIC! I mean, I’m sorry for the economy, but it ain’t gonna BE an economy if everyone’s sick, dying or dead from COVID-19! At the very least, WEAR A MASK!”
And speaking of the economy…
Look, I get it. Folks gotta make money. I understand that. I do. And I feel extremely sorry for everyone in the restaurant and non-essential industries that have shut down. I feel beyond terrible for the people who have lost their jobs. But opening everything up too quickly just leads to disaster. Leads? Wait a minute, let me back that thang up. It has LED to disaster. Don’t believe me? THEN GO WATCH THE NEWS FOR TEN FREAKIN’ MINUTES. I’ll wait. The point is, COVID CASES ARE SPIKING OUT OF CONTROL. PEOPLE ARE NOT WEARING MASKS. WHY ARE PEOPLE ARE NOT BEING RESPONSIBLE?
Are some people REALLY that irresponsible? Seriously?
‘Fraid so, citizens of the world. And THIS is what I have a huge problem with and what makes me want to shake EVERY MASKLESS KAREN & KYLE I see online bitching about being forced to wear a mask. I literally just want to shake these people until their stupid brains audibly rattle around in their obstinate heads and shout, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? Wearing a mask isn’t obstructing your constitutional right! Masks PROTECT ME FROM DUMBASSES LIKE YOU! So put one on and shut the EVER-LOVING FUCK UP FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!
But I can’t (shake the mask-holes) because I’m not getting near enough to these morons to get their COVID germs ANYWHERE near or upon my PERSON! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!! Speaking of things spiking, gosh darn it, there went my blood pressure.
Hot dogs, I think I need to calm down.
But again, I digress. Look y’all, DEAD PEOPLE DON’T SPEND MONEY. Want to save the economy? Want to do your part in saving this country from the worst pandemic I’VE ever seen in this lifetime? Wear a mask. Don’t take unnecessary trips. DO NOT have unnecessary gatherings. Use take-out options from restaurants. Buy stuff online. Then? WAIT & BE PATIENT. Also? DON’T BE HAVING HOUSE PARTIES! And I mean, I get it. You miss your families and your friends. And yes, there is a vaccine on the horizon. But regular folks like you and me aren’t going to see them until SOMETIME NEXT YEAR IF WE ARE LUCKY. Maybe by spring or summer. But at any rate, even though it’s not foolproof, YOU do what’s right & ideally, you LIVE!
“I see a bad moon on the rise.”
Why am I quoting Credence Clearwater Revival at you? Because number one, I’m old, and number two, that’s the sinking feeling I get considering the holidays are upon us. Kids are going to be coming home from college. Families are going to want to gather for Thanksgiving & Christmas celebrations. I implore you NOT TO DO THIS if at all possible. PLEASE don’t travel. WEAR a mask. WASH YOUR HANDS! Or use hand sanitizer at the VERY least! DO your part in saving your fellow country people from COVID-19. Do you know that if everyone AT THE VERY LEAST wore masks, infection rates would plummet?
But don’t take MY word for it. That’s just science, yo.
Here’s just ONE among MANY articles that attest to the lifesaving attributes of a simple face covering: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/10/24/927472457/universal-mask-wearing-could-save-some-130-000-u-s-lives-study-suggests. Now I don’t know about you, but I think 130,000 is a pretty significant number. Why, that’s almost half the death toll. I mean, I’m just saying.
So what have we learned today?
After all, I mean really. It’s just not that difficult. In the words of Samuel L. Jackson, “STAY THE FUCK AT HOME.” And in my own words, DON’T BE THAT STUPID PRIVILEGED ASSHOLE WHO KEEPS RUINING IT FOR EVERYONE. Don’t be the one who makes me want to ask, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? First of all, wear your mask. Secondly, keep non–essential trips to an absolute minimum. Thirdly, STAY AT HOME WHEN POSSIBLE AND DON’T HAVE PEOPLE OVER! Finally, WASH YOUR HANDS, and please remember: if you’re worried about the economy, YOU CAN’T SPEND MONEY IF YOU’RE DEAD. So PLEASE do your part, let’s ride this out, and things will get better. I hope.
Thanks for reading,
Meredith Silverman