Musings

It's been quiet, today.  The kids are (finally) at school, and have been all day.  I think the school they go to has about the best compromises between nods to the cowardly morons running the city and reality possible at this point.  Yes, the kids are in face coverings--gaiters, actually, which I have far less objections to than actual masks, given the new cries that they don't do anything for preventing somebody sick from passing it on because they don't restrict breathing. 

Funny, that.  I thought masks weren't supposed to restrict breathing, either. 

Anyway.  The kids are back in school, and will hopefully remain there.  I am praying nobody thinks it's a good idea to fuck things up by shutting schools down again. Only for a little while...like last spring, when all of fourth quarter ended up cancelled.  If y'all will recall, that was only supposed to be for two weeks. 

I'm not risking it again.  If school shuts down "temporarily," I'll withdraw the kids and buy the curriculum and start over (if necessary). 

Even though I'm really optimistic that this will end after the first Tuesday in November. 

(Cynical?  Who, me?  No...you must be joking.)

Speaking of November...does it seem to anyone else that the Democrats utterly wrote off their chances with their ticket picks?  Because damn.  I really don't think even most of their staunchest supporters like Harris.

Missouri had their primary for governor this month.  I voted.  And I wasn't alone--the tiny precinct where my other half and I cast our ballots saw around 250-300 voters over the course of the day.  That's been about average turnout.  No, we weren't the first to vote--we went after dinner--but we weren't the last ones, either.  I think we were the ones that tipped the precinct's tally over 200. 

Few people wore masks.  I don't blame the sweet little old ladies behind the tables checking registrations and handing out ballots for wearing them--they're squarely in the groups at risk.  Then again, like I said: tiny precinct, not many people in and voting at the same time. 

I'm also seeing more and more people going into stores without masks.  And the mayor of the large town that passed a mask ordinance in July is screeching lies that everybody knows are lies about how numbers are going up (they aren't) and masks are working (but I thought numbers were going up???), and please, for the love of God, can other cities pass these ordinances too, so we don't keep hemorrhaging sales tax money????  (The answer to that has been a horse laugh--most of the other city councils have quit even bothering to say no.) 

Fewer and fewer (and shriller and shriller) people are even still worried about the cold-on-steroids.  

I think the only long-term result from this mess will be the loss of any trust the public still has in media and elected officials.  And the next time there's a hue and cry that we must shut down or we're all gonna die...nobody's going to listen. 

I'm praying really hard that the next time isn't any more serious than this time has been.