Free At Last, Free At Last

Yesterday I had lunch at a cafe and then spent the day at the beach. Nothing special,right?

Wrong.

It was the first time I went to a restaurant in over 2 months and the beach since last summer. Corona is officially over for the Menche family ( for now). I never thought I could be so happy with a tuna sandwich. Just another example of  why you  can never take anything for granted.

I know the lock-down has been devastating for many businesses ( mine included) and the ramp up will be no picnic but there is something to be said of not having another table within 6 feet of yours. I don't need to listen to the people at next table chewing.

Big improvement.

Of course there are still many things that people do to bother  me ( at least I think it is JUST to bother me). I  don't understand what the big deal of wearing a mask is. In the beginning they were not sure that masks would help slow the spread of the Corona . Now the science of the day says it makes a big difference.

At the restaurant I went to, most people were wearing the masks and those that weren't, were far enough away that it didn't bother me. At the beach very few people had masks. I guess the feeling is that somehow, being by the water stops droplets from leaving one person to infect another. Besides people look dumb wearing masks at the beach ( call me dummy) and isn't looking good the most important thing when going to the beach?

What really surprises me is how many people at my synagogue don't wear them properly ( you know, the nose showers) or at all.

You would think that the people who didn't wear masks would be young and healthy since it is less likely for them to have a harsh reaction (forget the fact that the mask is to prevent people from infecting others and not just to protect the wearer, you can't really expect anyone to care about OTHER people.), no, it is the older people who I see wearing masks the least. As a matter of fact, it seems in my Synagogue , the older you are the less of your face you cover.

Someone please explain this to me. I guess if you are praying, you can't get sick. Or perhaps you just don't care anymore.

I am being serious. I really don't get it.

Don't get me wrong. I am a shul guy and I am really happy that I can go back again especially since social distancing has made it nice and quiet but I find myself being nervous that someone will infect one of these guys and it makes it hard to concentrate. I don't dare say anything because I know it wont be taken well.

I have been wondering why the guidelines for our freedom don't stress that the people in the high risk groups need to be more careful. In the USA it is because most of the government is over 70, but here?

I hope people come to their senses. I always tell my kids that whatever action you take you need  to weigh the downside against the upside. What is the upside of not wearing a mask? I can tell you what the downside is.

I am also aware that I have quoted Martin Luther King JR. for the title of this post at the same time that all of the USA is on fire due to social unrest. I have a lot to say about this ( surprise) but I won't.

Ok just one thing.

There have been a lot of studies, done by the right and left since Obama was president,  that show that there is no inherent racism among policemen.

Don't get me wrong, I am sure there are racist policeman. The video of the cops murdering George Floyd, is one of the most horrific things I have ever watched, and I have seen some horrific things. All of those cops deserve to go away for a long time. Yet you have to ask, do you really want a world without police. If you want to know what that would be like, look outside. It has been shown that these protests end up harming the people they supposedly want to help. When the police are too scared to do their jobs, they stop doing them and the people who live in crime infested neighborhoods suffer the most.

I am also alarmed how the Arabs have managed to successfully equate Black Lives Matter to the plight of the Palestinians. There is of course a major difference. American Blacks were brought over as slaves. They were the victims. They were freed as a result of the Civil War. The Palestinians in our story were the aggressors. Their leaders were meeting the Nazi's in the 30's to figure out the best way to kill all the Jews here. Then they started a war and are in their predicament because they lost. Blaming Israel is like defending southerners because they no longer have the right to own slaves.

Yet for some reason, a people that supposedly controls all media, can't get the point across. There has been a lot of antisemitism mixed in with these protests and it should make people scared. I am afraid it will only get worse.

I hope I am wrong.