Schools will not reopen
Churches will not reopen.
Restaurants will not reopen.
Someone has to say it. This is our future.
Unless, of course, social distancing ends. And what are the chances of that happening?
In half a month, social distancing has gone from being considered a joke to now being close to a law.
I leave my house to go for a walk and see my neighbors keeping away from me, crossing the street to avoid being close to me.
There’s something in me that wants to be cavalier and return to the way things were. To take my chances.
I was working in close quarters with kids. I was attending church several times a week. I was occasionally eating out. But now each of those activities could prove fatal. I may not be afraid myself, but would I want to be responsible for bringing a fatal disease onto someone else? Definitely not.
And so, I optimistically cooperate, but after nearly two weeks, I see no end in sight.
I try to imagine what would have to be true for parents to feel comfortable enough to send their children back into the intimacy of a public/private school. Wouldn’t the fear of getting the virus have to end? How close is that? Each day there are stories and numbers shouting that there is no control.
Nice picture today in the Newburyport Daily News of the Rail Trail. Dogs and families were out of the house, getting some exercise and fresh air. Except that the story that went with the picture was that the mayor of Newburyport was threatening to close the Rail Trail because the social distancing rules weren’t being followed.
Hampton Beach is now closed to the public for the same reason.
Things are not trending away from social distancing. Just the opposite, so it seems.
Yet we’re supposed to believe that schools/churches/restaurants will reopen on a certain date in the near future? Are you naivete enough to believe that we are now capable of putting a date on when this crisis ends?
We must get the virus under control, and so far it hasn’t happened. There appears to be treatment available for most of the afflicted but not a means to prevent folks from being afflicted.
Promising reopening dates based on where we currently are is pure folly.
My advice: Pray for a miracle but also prepare for a very long haul.
McClelland Miscellanea 