Pissed. Angry. Distraught. Hopeless. Any of these words describe your feelings these days? Personally, I’ve had them all in the last 24 hours. And then I saw a video of a young African-American male gunned down and slaughtered by a couple of yahoo vigilante white dudes. My head exploded.
Another one murdered—this time apparently for having the nerve to jog down the street in the middle of the day. The nerve of this young man, right? How dare he run while black, in a white neighborhood? Doesn’t he know his place?
For those of you wondering what the story is, perhaps you haven’t seen the video yet. Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, is seen being chased by two white men in a pickup truck outside the city of Brunswick, Georgia. A confrontation occurs between the younger white man and Arbery, shots were fired, and Arbery is seen falling to…
Wow! The seventh Family Friday! How time flies when you’re having…Well, never mind. I hope you and yours are all well. Here’s how things are in Alabama. As of last night there have been 9,046 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 369 deaths. That’s an increase of 1,978 positives and 97 deaths. My husband and I finally got the face masks we ordered so we can stop wrapping t-shirts around our faces. They’re cotton and much more comfortable. I walked down the street to our local Dollar General a couple of days ago to get some laundry detergent and I was surprised that one of the employees thanked me for wearing a mask. I don’t think I deserve thanks for something we all should be doing to protect each other. Which leads me to…
I’ve been trying to keep things as upbeat as possible, especially with these Family Friday posts, but I hope you won’t mind if I vent about the protests going on in various states. I’ve been watching these with growing outrage and fury over the last few weeks, and I think if I don’t say something I may spontaneously combust.
As of yesterday here in the U.S. there are over 1.3 million cases of Covid-19, with over 75,000 deaths. Medical experts are predicting the possibility of over 100,000 deaths by the end of May. And while this is happening there are ignorant, selfish, yahoos out there mouthing off about everything from lockdowns, to the nerve of the government telling them they need to wear masks and practice social distancing when they’re out. I have to say there have also been some responsible, respectful demonstrations, but by and large they’ve been like this one in Michigan:
And here’s what some of our frontline healthcare workers have had to put up with.
Seriously? What is the matter with these people? Look, obviously the country cannot continue to be under lockdown indefinitely. Currently there are 33 million jobless claims as a result of the pandemic. People are in danger of permanently losing their homes and livelihoods. And what’s not talked about as much, is what forced isolation is doing to victims of domestic abuse. However, is it too much to ask for a rational, reasonably cautious phased-in approach to reopening? Is it too much to ask that until more testing, therapeutic drugs, and hopefully a vaccine are made available, that people show a little humanity and common decency and continue to practice social distancing and yes, wear a bloody mask when you’re out shopping or whatever. Honestly! I’m sorry for you being inconvenienced, but I’m not willing to put my life in danger because you think wearing a mask is uncomfortable and infringes on your personal freedoms. This country has much deeper problems than a pandemic, when you have people being threatened and killed by deplorables offended by being told to wear a mask in a store or restaurant. Or employees and healthcare workers being coughed and spit on, or in the case of one Dollar Tree employee, having some asshat wipe his nose on her sleeve because she had the gall to request he put on a mask, This behavior is abhorrent and should be called out by everyone.
Okay. Rant over. Hopefully I haven’t offended anyone too badly. How are all of you doing?
For this week’s positivity, here’s a lovely new surprise from the mysterious artist known as Banksy.
The whimsical painting is titled Game Changer, and it depicts a young boy playing with a nurse superhero action figure as Batman and Spider-Man lie discarded in a waste paper basket. The piece honoring healthcare workers is on display at England’s Southampton General Hospital. The artist also left a note saying: “Thanks for all you’re doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even if (it’s) only black and white.” A spokeswoman for Banksy has said that the artwork will be auctioned at a later date to raise money for national health charities.
By Hook Or By Book 
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