Like millions of others, I played Hide and Seek as a child. I was never particularly good at it, being slow of foot, nor particularly bad at it, understanding that a better hiding spot would hide one in three dimensions, not just two.
Thinking back on it, I believe the thing that was most important to me while playing the game was to be competent, capable and clever; to avoid the humiliating failure of being the first one spotted, to survive to the end. I suppose it’s even possible that I experienced anxiety while in hiding, or while trying to come out of hiding and sneak back to “home base” without being seen. What I do remember for certain is that wonderful feeling we all had when the all-clear was announced with those magic words, “ollie ollie oxen free!” It was the playground equivalent of all the guns falling silent at the end of WW1 or every church bell in the land ringing to celebrate the end of WW2.
From the moment our world war came upon us in the form of Humanity vs Covid-19, we’ve ranged from disbelief, to a hope that it wouldn’t get too bad, to a yearning that it would end soon with the least possible amount of pain and suffering and death. Most Americans (certainly not all) have endeavored to learn the rules and become competent, capable and clever; to avoid failure and survive to the end. But even those of us who acknowledge the harsh realities of science can hope for a reprieve, a little break every now and then. I know I may sound like a doom & gloomer, but I’m going to say it anyway; no one is about to call us out with a cheerful, “ollie ollie oxen free!” Not this year, maybe not for several.
As the “UK variant” becomes dominant in much of the country, the springbreakers have returned home, and the Easter weekend has come and gone, and the daily averages are creeping up again nationwide. If the P1 variant ravaging Brazil gains a firm foothold here before we gain herd immunity? Oh my! Vaccinations are up to 3+ million per day, but new problems with supply have come upon us, while some states are coming fast to a point where supply exceeds demand because there are too many Republicans who are “waiting to see” something, or flatly saying they refuse to be vaccinated. www.dailykos.com/… (Mark Sumner Diary)
I don’t want this diary to just be a gripe, or have me be the “end is near” guy on a soapbox. If anyone in Koslandia has practical, helpful solutions, please post them so that we all may benefit. IMO, the Biden administration has some tools at their disposal, tools used by previous Republican administrations, so the Repubs shouldn’t complain too much:
On July 17, 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, a law that required states to raise the drinking age to 21 or face a 10 percent cut to their federal highway funding. All states complied and adopted the higher drinking age. www.boston.com/....
I’m pretty certain transportation and entertainment companies can require proof of vaccination (once the vaccines are available to all, but the vaccines may have to be fully approved first, not just for emergency use) and large scale employers can require their workforce to be inoculated for general safety, and I really don’t understand why anyone in the military can opt out unless they have prior incidence of anaphylaxis or something. And of course Covid can just be added to the list of required childhood vaccines, once approved as safe for children.
We are all certainly watching the race between the Jabs and the Variants with keen interest, and if we are, we know now is not the time to quit our efforts. Both my wife and I got our second doses this week. But our adult son with anxiety has rarely left the house in the last year, and tomorrow morning he will be pitted in a race with millions of others to sign up for an appointment as everyone 16 to 49 becomes eligible all at once in California.
NOTICE: Due to the high demand and limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines, appointments may take a few weeks to schedule. We are adding more appointments regularly and continue to expand statewide. myturn.ca.gov
I would love to stand outside and call “ollie ollie oxen free” to my son and every person on the planet, but I can’t. No one can, not yet; not President Biden or Dr Fauci, or Dr Walensky. We all know we have to keep playing the game, even if we wish it weren’t so.