End Game.

Does anyone else feel mentally and physically exhausted right now? 

The propaganda, the stupid phrases, the constant lecturing. The unavoidable, in-your-face madness EVERYWHERE you go. The speculation and worst-case scenario narrative that refuses to see anything positive.  The unending “I heard from Jim who heard from Ted who heard from Mary’s sister’s neighbor’s boyfriend” elementary telephone game. The floor decals, the great mask debate, the “if you don’t believe what I define as science you deserve to catch this” nonsense. The tattling, constant shaming, in your business craziness. The realization that reading something on the internet gives some people “expert” knowledge and permission to “educate” others. The never-ending, ever-changing lists of regulations, rules and guidelines, each one crazier than the one before. Stay-at-home “orders” that defy logic and common sense. Hand washing, sanitizing, antibacterial everything. Food shortages, grocery hoarders, mass panic bullshit. Name-calling, insult-throwing, know-it-all internet trolls. Daily briefings, press conferences, “journalism” and agenda-driven stupidity. Lost moments, forgotten milestones, missed events and canceled celebrations. 

Maintain six feet of separation? Six feet under and six feet tall are the only ways I want to hear six feet used in a sentence for the rest of my life. And then there is the question I have been asking since March and is still unanswered: What, exactly, is our end game? And when we finally figure that out, what will be the unfixable, unchangeable, never-able-to-recover-from consequences?

Make good choices. Be kind and compassionate. Mind your own business.

It’s May now. I have opinions and observations. 

I have many favorite things about this current situation. And by favorite, I of course mean completely asinine and ridiculous things that are making me lose my mind…

Let me use my reverse Black Friday analogy. “What is that,” you ask, intrigued?

Leading up to Black Friday, all of the conversations go like this:

“Did you see that Walmart has the XBOX for $249?”

“Target has the best deals on big screen TVs!”

“Best Buy is the place to go for Chromebooks!”

Only now, it’s like this:

“I cannot believe that I saw 3 people without masks at Walmart! They should kick those people out!”

“Target is not enforcing social distancing. Someone was standing 5.5 feet from me in the produce department!”

“Why is Best Buy even open?! They are so NOT essential!”

Some people are reporting on this stuff literally hourly. Like it’s their job. 

And then factor in the single worst social media website in the history of the Al Gore-invented internet, Next Door, and you’ll be convinced that these are actual jobs. The way people are taking such pride in shaming and lecturing others and spewing all of their “expert” knowledge is disturbing. I, for one, am shocked by the number of pandemic experts I know. I mean, how have I not realized before that literally everyone around me is a scientist? Never mind that Beeker from the Muppets is more capable than some of these morons, they are sure THEY ARE RIGHT. AND YOU ARE WRONG.

I believe I have said from the beginning that this situation is bringing out the absolute worst in humanity. I stand behind that. I mean, just several months ago, how many of you could have imagined a scenario where your neighbors would call the cops because you had 6 people in your backyard, which is 1 more than the “allowed” 5? And not only that, but we also have the birth of the Tattle Bragger and they are the worst. They tattle on their neighbors and then brag about it on the previously mentioned website. And then other Tattle Braggers applaud them. They are like a cult of pretentious tattletales. And remember the Brady Bunch episode where Cindy is told “Nobody likes a tattletale?” Well, apparently in 2020, the world has completely lost its mind and now people love tattletales. Me? I still prefer to live by the “Snitches get stitches” battle cry. But that is just me.

This month we also tried to get back to some semi-normal living and decided it was time to camp. And by camp, I mean take out our enclosed camper, with its own bathroom, for a weekend. No shared space here, only the 4 of us in the camper. After searching a bit, we finally found an open campground and decided to get away for the weekend with some friends.  We booked a reservation in Wyoming and then the Wyoming governor decided not to open the state parks after all. False alarm! But, not being people to give up easily, we found another campground in Western Colorado and booked 2 sites for the weekend. We headed out of town on Friday morning, ready for a peaceful weekend of campfires, cold beer, the great outdoors and good conversation. And if that was how the weekend unfolded, I would not be writing this.

We checked into the campground without incident and got everything set up. The campground was at capacity and there were clear rules to follow: No public restrooms, no more than 5 people around a campfire, social distancing, etc. We made dinner and were just setting up a campfire when we spotted an officer of the law in another campsite. Hmmm, what is going on over there? Maybe they have too many people around the campfire? Well, the next thing you know, the Sherriff is standing in our campsite asking if he can speak to us for a few minutes. He then proceeds to explain that the campground opened up without the permission of Pitkin County and everyone needed to leave. We are all looking at each other like “Is he for real?” And I’m thinking “It’s 8 pm, we are 4 hours from home and every adult has been drinking.” He must have read my mind because the next thing out of his mouth was “It wouldn’t be a very safe decision to require everyone to leave on a Friday night, so you have until tomorrow at 11AM to vacate the property.”

In his defense, he seemed to think that the entire thing was stupid. He noted how we were all in our own space, with our own bathroom, and asking us to leave seemed a little extreme. But, as he noted, “I have to enforce the law.”

So, the next morning, the campground manager came around and told us we could relocate to a sister campground about 30 miles away and the fee would be comped, along with a complete refund for Friday night. If there is anything I love more than camping, it’s free camping!

Off we went! 

We arrived at the new campground, in another county, and it was a completely different story. The restrooms were open, no one was wearing masks and there were no social distancing rules. (By the way, I absolutely despise the term “social distancing.”) And therein lies the issue with this whole situation: Wherever you go, the “rules” are different. There is no uniform response to the pandemic. And since there is no uniform response, how are we supposed to know what rules apply where? What is open and what is not? It’s like driving down a road in the middle of nowhere where the speed limit keeps changing every 2 miles.

My other favorite thing right now are the righteous, morally superior minions announcing, proudly “If you don't wear a mask in public, you deserve to get COVID and die.” Yes, that is an actual thing. It’s a disturbing thing, but it's real. Is this what we have become as a society? Judging people and wishing death on them when we know nothing about their situation? It’s very alarming, to say the least. And to those people, I have one word and one word only: Karma.

And that is where I am at the moment. Which brings me to the title of this post and how I’m currently trying to live:

Make good choices. Be kind and compassionate. Mind my own business. 

Notice that Judge Others and Wish Death on People are not on my list. Maybe think long and hard if those things are on your list and adjust accordingly. Is that who you really want to be? I want to come out of this better than we were before. At the moment, we look like a society on the decline and that is very concerning. 

Be well.