Another Year

Overwhelmed is a good word to describe it. So are exhausted, angry, disgusted, disappointed, and just plain incredulous. All of these are part of the reason for being overwhelmed, to be honest.

At least they are for me.

I know I've ranted about this before, but here we are, the start of another school year during a pandemic that could have been mitigated so much, and even - or especially - the people who want their kids in school "no matter what" are making it harder to do so.

So, with the usual caveats that I need to put in here so I don't constantly get not-alled and what-abouted by the minuscule portion of the population (or their parents, since many of the what-abouters I hear from seem to think that their poor babies can't speak for themselves) that actually can't get vaxxed or wear a mask...

Let's just take these incomprehensible (to me) things one by one, shall we?

1) Anti-vaxxers: Honestly, I do not grok people who will swear up and down that vaccines are somehow the work of the devil, but will use deworming medication intended for livestock animals that weigh five times or more what adult humans do instead. And they call us the sheep.

2) Anti-maskers: Do you wear a seatbelt? Avoid driving under the influence of drugs including alcohol? Follow the rules of the road? Yes? And why do you do these things? That's right, you do them because no mitigating strategy (like masks, or vaccines, or seatbelts, or speed limits) is 100% effective. They are cumulative, and every one of them you use just gives you a better chance of a) not getting hurt or sick, and b) not hurting or infecting others.

3) Pearl-clutchers (aka But What About the Children?): I promise you, your child is not going to die because they're required to wear a mask properly, learn that gay people exist, stay three to six feet away from their friends, wash their hands more frequently, learn more about history than the happily-ever-after pap they fed us in school, or (gasp!) find out that it's okay - even preferred - to think for themselves.

I suspect it's that last - thinking for themselves - that most bothers people of this mindset.

4) Red-queens (aka All The Ways Here Belong To Me): Look, my kids didn't thrive with distance learning either. But the weird fallacies these people think up based on their own child's experience and decide that these should apply to all children, regardless of any other factors, well... check your privilege. Just because your child does better in a classroom - and again, mine does too - does not mean everyone does. Nor do your fake statistics (that you make up using ridiculous stereotypes like the allegedly skyrocketing suicide and domestic violence rates during school lockdowns... but evidently only for those families not exactly like yours) make you a more considerate person or concerned citizen.

See Pearl-clutchers, above. Disingenuously showing concern for other people's children when you actually don't care is hypocritical and fake.

5) But-my-rightsers: Yeah, no. Your right to go around without a mask, or to violate other public health (and basic courtesy) guidelines, or to carry an arsenal to the supermarket, or to drive a car, or to sneer at people who don't look like you... these rights come with responsibilities.

And no, the first amendment usually does not apply. When you shout at some poor hapless barista for requiring you to wear a mask in their cafe because them's the rules? No one is violating your first amendment rights. Those rights mean the government can't stop you from speaking; they do not apply to the pizza joint on the corner. Sure, you have a right to not wear a mask into their establishment, and they have a right to refuse you service.

No, your inconvenience is not the same thing as their oppression. Get over yourself.