Last week, our governor decided that local county mayors could mandate mask wearing in public if they thought that was best for their counties. Guess whose county DID NOT get a mask mandate? Mine…..Our county mayor decided that individual freedom was more important than wearing masks and saving lives for a short time during a pandemic with rising numbers of new cases. Our county is divided on the need for masks. For my family, that freedom costs a feeling of safety. It means that we will be less free for a longer period of time so that others can feel “free”.
This map clearly shows three states where people do not have any thought for others….Tennessee, my state, is one of them. This state has always had a reputation of being a bit uneducated and perhaps backward. I really thought this state was progressing beyond this. I think I was wrong.
I had a COVID-19 test today. They give them free at our local health department. I feel ok going shopping or doing curbside pickup using social distancing and a mask. Last week, however, I was overly exposed to a few people in an enclosed space for over an hour, with no masks. I was also in the car with my daughter for an extended time, and she is in a high risk exposure setting at the nursing home where she works. This virus hit even closer to home….my daughter’s significant other, who was working out of state, spent two months in a hospital, fighting Covid-19 and fearing death. He is home now, but not fully back to normal.
There are so many moving pieces to defeating this virus, that it forms a logistical nightmare. One person’s choice has a ripple effect. When did people stop understanding this? Do they understand and just genuinely not care about others? Perhaps they never understood?
I am sad that taking little vacations is out of the picture for us for the near future. Summers usually mean a trip to the mountains or the ocean. For now, it is a dream…
~AoA
Army of Angels: Part 2 
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