Hi!
We are but one windy day from naked trees and but a few short weeks from long-night overload.
After the incredibly hot summer we had, the chill feels nice. The fourteen-hour nights? Not the biggest fan, but what are ya gonna do? Make the best of it.
Here's to a long, long, long, long Fall, no snow until at least December, the temp never dipping below -30, and a Holiday season that will provide family gatherings without caveats, without limits.
The vaccinations numbers are slowly ticking up every day, but it will be a bit until that translates into a drastic drop in both new case and hospitalization numbers. If there are any cluster cases that stem from Thanksgiving, they will be rearing their ugly heads soon. How we get to move forward depends on how that all pans out.
There are still those out there believing all kinds of nonsense when it comes to this virus and the vaccines. I'm not sure at this point what exactly it will take for them to lift the veil of conspiracy and allow themselves to walk in reality.
To them, everyone is lying to them except their fellow conspirators.
This group of liars apparently includes the entire medical community, all legitimate news sources, every medical journal that has been around for more than 15 years, educators, the UN, the World Health Organization, all of the health organizations, and thousands of assistants, clerks, and data entry persons.
That is a LOT of people to be working covertly to... to... I'm still unclear as to what the end game is supposed to be.
I can't wait until normal conspiracies make a comeback. You know, the flat-earthers, the fake moonwalkers, the harmless ones, the ones that don't kill people.
I've recently been accused of being too hard on conspiracy theorists. That I don't give enough credence to their opinions on these things.
Honestly, I think that's been what has helped this crap grow.
Coddling the bullshit has given it shelf life. How many people would still be alive if we hadn't worried so much about hurting the feelings of those perpetuating this crap?
How many wouldn't now have to find a way to live with the long-term symptoms of this virus if we all had collectively, as a sane society, stomped the misinformation from the beginning?
When I think about all of the needlessly empty chairs that the conspiracies have provided this holiday season, it just pisses me off.
If the powers that be would have shut this crap down the second it reared its ugly head...
The second it became obvious...
I can't, I won't coddle it anymore. If you get offended because I don't respect your "opinions" about how the virus is a myth, or how some new world order is behind the vaccines, I really couldn't care less.
My hands are sore from being sat on, if I bite my lip much more, I'll be chewing right through.
I get told that every opinion deserves respect.
No. No, they don't.
If it is your opinion that some races are superior to others. Just shut up. Nobody needs to hear that antiquated crap.
If your opinion requires me to acquiesce to homophobic, or transphobic, or gender phobic beliefs, then not only does this opinion not deserve respect, it deserves the utmost disdain.
If your opinions have a misogynistic twist, be prepared to eat them.
If it's your opinion that peer-proven facts aren't real. Come talk to me if and when you get your sanity back. Until then, lose my number. I no longer have the time, will, or energy to deal with your crazy.
If it is your opinion that Joe Rogan knows more about the virus and vaccines than all the world-renowned epidemiologists who have devoted their lives to studying these things, I don't even know what to say.
For me, it boils down to this.
Don't come at me covered in bullshit and expect me to listen to it, pretend that your thoughts have merit, or be pleasant in a debate about it. If you choose to come at me covered in bullshit, be prepared to be buried in it.
I look so forward to a time, hopefully in the not-too-distant future when sanity once again falls upon the land.
When up is up and down is down again. When 2+2 will always equal 4. When 'alternative facts' can become the butt of every joke, as they should be. When following health measures is once again just what we do to keep each other as safe as possible. When we can breathe.
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May sanity roll in like a London fog, blanketing us, leaving nothing untouched.
May those who cling to the crazy, learn to let it go, cheeks unclenched, pearls unclutched.