Mixed feelings

 It's a beautiful sunny day here, the nicest we've had in ages. I love seeing blue sky after so much rain and all the dreary gray days. Although it's still cold out, today's the first day it's felt like spring is on the way. I'm so ready for it this year!

Late last night my left arm started to hurt from the vaccine shot. I couldn't sleep on my left side because of it and every time I rolled over in my sleep it woke me up. I also had a couple of nightmares which is unusual for me. Stress dreams, yes, but not nightmares. It may have been a result of the painful arm, or maybe it was a side effect from the vaccine itself. Either way, it's  a small price to pay for getting protection from Covid. I feel fine today aside from the sore arm.

I'm feeling a bit embarrassed by getting vaccinated so soon when so many people are still waiting for a chance. I want to tell friends about it (because it's exciting!) but I have this vague nagging feeling that I've somehow done something wrong. So many people who by rights should be ahead of me in line are still weeks or even months out, and I feel guilty about that. I've been assured that I'm being silly to feel this way. Here's how it worked out. 

A friend of Gregg's works in a large medical building here in town, and they're offering eligible people (patients and employees) the vaccine. They have to thaw out enough each day to meet likely demand. Some people fail to show for appointments, and (this blew me away) over half of the employees haven't had their first shots yet and are hesitating out of fear. So rather than risking having to throw away precious doses, the administration has quietly encouraged staff to bring in family members late in the afternoon to use up whatever's left. Of course, this is a friend, not family, but he knows about Gregg having had lung cancer and only having one lung. He's seen the devastation Covid can inflict on healthy people with no underlying issues, and he was quite adamant in inviting Gregg to come get his shot. Then he was kind enough to insist that it was perfectly okay for me to come, too. So I wasn't getting in line ahead of anyone, simply using a shot that might have ended up in the trash. 

Still, I'm very conscious of what a privilege it is to be getting the shots so early. I probably won't be shouting it from the rooftops, even though it made me want to jump for joy just out of sheer relief! I wish all my friends and all my family could get their first shots today (I include all you reading here when I say that) but as every person gets their turn we're one step closer to protection for us all. 

50/50

 This morning I asked our school nurse how she felt about us coming back to work and the kids coming back to school (in person) while the pandemic continues to rage through our community. We were discussing how bad our county's numbers still are, how many people we knew of that are seriously ill, how many people have died. Just yesterday the son of a friend of ours stopped by the pet store to tell Gregg that his dad had just died of Covid. The nicest man you'd ever want to meet, with three kids (two of whom are in their late teens), gone. Our school resource officer, listening to our conversation, told us his 47 year old brother just died from Covid over the Christmas break. These stories are everywhere at the moment. The nurse told me she's torn on the issue. She said her feelings about whether to come back are pretty much a 50/50 split between whether or not it's the right thing to do. I certainly understand where she's coming from.

Part of me thinks that a year or so of lost schooling, bad grades, and truancy (all serious problems since last March) can be made up, but a life can never be replaced. And so many people in our community are still being so very irresponsible. A large group of well-to-do parents at the high school our middle school feeds into took it upon themselves to host a large dance at the local country club last weekend, and then filled up social media with pictures of their two dozen or so kids dancing, posing for photos, and having a grand old time---with no masks, no social distancing, and no mention of any safety protocols. They were upset that the school wasn't hosting the dance this year and decided that their precious teenagers shouldn't have to "miss out". The district office even shared these photos on Facebook, then quickly deleted those posts when there was a huge community outcry. That was last weekend--right before we all came back to school face-to-face. 

The sheer callousness and entitlement made me furious. Just furious. These people have zero respect for the lives or well being of others. I wish there was some way to make all those parents and their bratty kids stay home and quarantine until we can be sure they're not carriers, but of course we can't. And besides, what good would it do? If they'll be so blatant about an expensive social event as to put it all over Facebook, what kind of precautions must they be taking on ordinary days? Probably next to none. 

But then there's another angle to our schools being out that I can't stop thinking about. There's a sweet little boy in our disabled class who lives in foster care. He's non verbal and sometimes has to use a wheelchair. A couple of months ago when he arrived at school for the day and the classroom staff went to change his diaper, they saw visible evidence that he had been abused. They called the school nurse down to have a look and to get her opinion, and she immediately said, "Call DSS. And this child needs to go to the hospital." What a blessing that this poor boy had the school staff to look out for signs of abuse and to help him! And if we'd not been at school that week, no one would have known. I shudder to think of all the things that can slip through the cracks more easily when kids aren't at school. Then, of course, we have so many kids that depend on us for things like two full meals a day. They have drive-through meal pickups every day while we're out on virtual learning, but how many poor folks lack transportation to come and get it? Despite all best efforts to provide services to poor kids, they're definitely at a disadvantage when we're forced to stay home. Also, for lots of our students school is a safe place where they get emotional support, too, and I'm sure schools closing are damaging to their mental health. (Another reason why I get so mad when I hear the wealthy parents of the popular kids whining about their little snowflakes "missing out" on parties and sporting events and dances!)

So I'm kind of like the school nurse: split 50/50 on whether it's a good idea for us to be back at school in person. What do you think? Do the risks outweigh the benefits, or vice versa?

No time soon....

That's when life will get back to normal after Covid-19. No time soon.

Our local school board met on Thursday night and voted to delay our schools' reopening by a month.  Now staff go back August 24 (instead of late July) and students go back the day after Labor Day, September 8th. We were set to begin a modified year-round schedule this year, but now that's been delayed to 2021-2022. Our Superintendent said (wisely, I thought) that he couldn't justify sending thousands of students back to school in five weeks with the way things are going in South Carolina. Today we set a record....again....for new C19 cases and all of a sudden we're one of the new hotspots. Who knows if school will be able to reopen even after delaying a month? Right now they're just buying time to try and work out safety protocols, and the Superintendent even said, bluntly, that we'll be watching other schools reopen ahead of us and getting an idea of what's working and what's not. I'm really, really grateful for him. He's relatively new to the district and very forward thinking and progressive.  I just hope, no matter what happens with the district, that my job will be safe once this crisis is over.

Meanwhile, toilet paper supplies are almost back to normal around here. How's the TP supply in your area? The main things I still see shortages of around here are hand soap, rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer, and Lysol wipes. Today I went ahead and stocked back up on the toilet paper. The plan is to replenish my pantry and freezer within the next couple of weeks, because I have a feeling that no matter how much our "guhvuhnuh" McMaster doesn't want to shut us down again, he'll have no choice before much longer. And if not now, then early in the fall when the second wave hits. Wait until flu season gets here on top of C19. I shudder to think of it.

What do you say? I know some of my readers live in other developing hotspots. Are you preparing for a second lockdown/shelter in place scenario?